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Looking to start collecting. Need help.
Descendant X
Skyrim is my god now.Outpost 31Registered User regular
Skyrim is my god now.Outpost 31Registered User regular
Lately I've been picking up graphic novels on the cheap thanks to my local bookseller (Chapters/Indigo/Coles for all you Canucks) marking all DC and Marvel graphic novels down by 20%. I've picked up Identity Crisis, Infinite Crisis, Batman: The Long Halloween & Dark Victory, and the first two volumes of the 52 collection.
I'm impressed.
Given the excellence of the most recent DC events, I'm leaning toward collecting some regular issues and seeing how I like them. I'm open to Marvel as well, if there are any outstanding books that I should look into.
The characters that have struck me the most are Superman, Batman (obviously), Black Adam, Green Lantern, The Flash, and I've always had a spot in my heart for The Spectre and Deadman. Animal Man is also pretty cool. In the Marvel Universe I'm partial to Spidey (who isn't).
Are there any series out there right now that I need to start collecting at all costs? Any other recommandations?
EDIT: I'd like to keep this thread dedicated to recommending regular series, but if you have a collection to recommend please do so. Just keep in mind that I'm pretty current on collections and graphic novels, so recommendations for Watchmen or Kingdom Come are lost on me. I'm more interested in collecting regular series now.
I'm impressed.
Given the excellence of the most recent DC events, I'm leaning toward collecting some regular issues and seeing how I like them. I'm open to Marvel as well, if there are any outstanding books that I should look into.
The characters that have struck me the most are Superman, Batman (obviously), Black Adam, Green Lantern, The Flash, and I've always had a spot in my heart for The Spectre and Deadman. Animal Man is also pretty cool. In the Marvel Universe I'm partial to Spidey (who isn't).
Are there any series out there right now that I need to start collecting at all costs? Any other recommandations?
EDIT: I'd like to keep this thread dedicated to recommending regular series, but if you have a collection to recommend please do so. Just keep in mind that I'm pretty current on collections and graphic novels, so recommendations for Watchmen or Kingdom Come are lost on me. I'm more interested in collecting regular series now.
Garry: I know you gentlemen have been through a lot, but when you find the time I'd rather not spend the rest of the winter TIED TO THIS FUCKING COUCH!
Descendant X on
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And if you like Loeb & Sale, then you might want to read Superman For All Seasons, Spider-Man: Blue, and various other collaborations between the two.
Also enjoyable(to me) is Fables(and its sister series Jack of Fables). I suggest giving those a whirl.
Kingdom Come
Justice (the final hardcover just came out)
Justice Society of America: The New Age (I think that's what it called) hardcover by Geoff Johns
Pick up Haunted Knight, which is the last Batman trade by Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale. It's three unrelated short stories, but they're all really good.
New Frontier
Geoff Johns' Green Lantern run.
Batman and Son hardcover by Grant Morrison. Also, grab Arkham Asylum and Gothic while you're at it.
Edit: Whoops, just saw your edit.
Well... My recommendations still stand. :P
These are the books I look forward to when they come out
(sorry to spoil it for you)
Is 52 actually as good as I think it is or am I in some sort of delerium state? Because I think it's pretty darn good.
Avoid Countdown. They took all the things they got right about 52 and threw them out the window (the window, they threw them out the window).
Is the new Black Adam series worth picking up? How about the new Spectre series?
Also, I know you didn't want trades recommended but make sure you pick up Batman: Detective, Blue Beetle: Shellshocked and Blue Beetle: Road Trip. Oh and all the Green Lantern and GL Corps trades. Trust me, it's all worth it when you get to the Sinestro Corps.
Btw, the third 52 trade is already out. I would also recommend not buying the World War III trade, it wasn't very good. And yeah, 52 was a great series.
Suddenly I almost wish that I hadn't moved back up to Northern BC. The bookstores in Vancouver would definitely have the thrid volume...
Read those.
They will make you happy.
Everything else people recommended is spot on.
I'm not saying they aren't on the same level, but if you were leaning heavily on DC and would only pick up a few Marvel series', those are the two I'd say, without a doubt, no matter what.
Also, since they are so early on, it won't take as much back issues and such to jump right in.
I worded my post extremely poorly.
Ultimate Spider-Man is best
Get Planetary and Invincible
If you haven't read New Wave, PREACHER or Transmetropolitan do that.
I don't read too many capes so I'm just throwing in some alternate suggestions
doom the fuck tree
Marvel:
- New Avengers
- Mighty Avengers (Starting next month, as the current arc just finished I think)
DC:
- Action Comics (Buy the last three issues. The Bizzaro arc was fantastic for the art alone)
- Detective Comics
- Robin
- Nightwing
- Batman
- Green Lantern
- Green Arrow/Black Canary
- Booster Gold (Probably the most fun book that DC is publishing right now, and if they go where I think and hope that they are going with it; that is that Booster is responsible for nearly everything in the DCU's past going the way it does then it should be a good history lesson)
I HIGHLY recomend getting into the Sinestro Corps War. It's a great "event/crossover" without any of the political and hero vs. hero that Civil War had.
What I collect in Trades:
- Hellboy
- BPRD
- Kingdom Come (Yea I know its only 1 book)
- Astonishing X-Men (atleast untill Whedon's last trade comes out)
- The Ultimates
- Y The Last Man
- Walking Dead
What I (and likely you) should read but havent gotten around to yet:
- Watchmen
- Dark Knight Returns
- New Frontier
- Daredevil
- Preacher
That should give you ideas. If you have any other questions feel free to shoot me a PM, I just got into this as well and I can give you a bit of advise.
I also picked up the Parallax and Superman-Prime issues of Tales from the Sinestro Corps War series. Is it just me, or did the art in the Superman-Prime book kind of suck? Does anyone else think that they're getting a bit too much milage out of a character who they used for twelve issues and then threw aside for 20 years?
The story wasn't bad, though. Good concise encapsulation of both Crisis on Infinite Earths and Infinite Crisis.
I don't think so. He's a good villian in a universe populated by crazy powered heros. Quite simply the Joker or Two-Face could not take the entire DCU like Prime can.
Also
Captain America!! If you have any opinion of Captain America one way or another, disregard it. It's one of the most engrossing and intriguing comics on the market and has had only 1 writer and just 2 or so artists, who have very similar styles and completely rock! And it is still awesome even 5 issues after Cap died!
The Ultimates!! I think this whole series should be in Trade now, I know there is a great and Giant HC for Volume 1 (12 issues) that is totally worth picking up. It is basically .. every character of the Avengers (Cap, Iron Man, Thor, The Wasp, Giant Man, Hawkeye, Scarlet Witch, Quicksilver, Nick Fury etc) written to ludicrous extremes and horribly flawed, and pitted against the kind of completely insane Armegedon-level threats that you wish Superhero Team books dealt with more often. It is written/drawn by Mark Millar and Bryan Hitch, who previously worked together on The Authority for DC's Wildstorm Imprint. The Ultimates is, thematically, based on The Authority under the presumption that if DC hadn't buried The Authority with everything else in the Wildstorm universe it would have been really popular. When this was coming out regularly (it had bad delays the final 6 or so issues), it was generally considered the hottest book Marvel had on the market.
Iron Fist Heavily Mytholigized Kung-Fu Superheroics! What else needs to be said? It has a fantastic art style and great pacing (it is co-written by Ed Brubaker, who writes Cap.) And the arc they are working on now is a Mystical Kung-Fu tournament in Heaven (kinda) complete with Brackets!! How could that not be awesome? Answer : It's awesome!
Punisher MAX!! This book is not a quirky and fun superhero romp. It is a brutal, relentless decent into extreme psychopathos! It is not, however, gratiuitous violence or just pointless shock schlock. This is a very smart, very mean book which sees The Punisher put into one horrifying situation after the next and then crawl his way, drenched in blood, out to stand on the bodies of the worst the world has to offer. The situations that arise in this book are truly mindboggling, and the most recent arc is shaping up to be just wild! It is all written by Garth Ennis, who basically just writes one style of book. That style of book happens to be EXACTLY what The Punisher should be, and thus he is the absolute perfect fit. Outside of the Main series (which I believe is up to issue #51), he has a number of mini-series such as "The Tyger" and "Welcome Back, Frank" that are worth reading as well.
Also of Note :
New Avengers: A good book, but a bit disjointed. It kind of jumps around to whatever is important in the marvel universe, so it could be confusing (Especially Post-Civil War.)
Runaways : A cool book about a group of kids who find out their parents were evil assholes. I have not read much past the first 18 or so issues, but it has a lot of fans so I am clearly missing something!
Astonishing X-Men : While it is a self-contained story, it does rely on a bit of knowledge of the X-men, especially Grant Morrison's (landmark and outstanding) run. It has great art (John Cassady) and suuper great writing (Courtesy of Joss Whedon), so it could be worth checking out, especially if you are familiar enough with the X-Men for it not to be TOO strange.
Thor : This just started, and I think is only up to Issue #3 so not much has happened, but it could turn out to be a great series.
Heroes for Hire : Fun, wacky team book made-up of a bunch of totally random characters. Kinda inconsequential, but pretty entertaining!
There are a number of other books I like, but most rely on an understanding of the Post-Civil War marvel world and may not be as easily recommendable as the ones I mentioned (Especially the first Four.)
EDIT : Oh, I forgot X-Factor!! It features a motley assortment of mostly C-List Mutants who run a sort-of Detective Agency. Great sell, right? Nah it's really good and worth reading!