I started thinking about this other day, because a fella I met at school told me he was really interested in comics. This of course, started a conversation with me that I normally would not have had with him, (not because I am a snob by any means, but more along the lines of because I am super shy and well, not very out going in person). The natural question was of course "What do you read?" For some reason, I expected some prestigious list of high quality material after he rambled for a good minute or two about how he loves the industry and everything about it. The fact that he claimed to have attended comic-con (something I've not been able to do ever ) for the past few years hyped up this list even more. I was sorely disappointed when he listed off only mainstream titles like: Punisher; Spiderman; Batman; Superman; X-Men; and a few other mainstream titles.

This of course did nothing all to diminish him as a comic fan. I am not one of those people who denies others the title of a "comic-fan" based on the titles that he reads. When I gave my list, which included several mainstream titles, he nodded and approved. But upon hearing "Runaways", "Fables", "Walking Dead", and that I used to read "Hard Times", "Fallen Angel", and "Preacher", his response was "What are those? Who reads these things?"

At this point, I was pretty speechless that he had not heard of even some of these titles...but for me, I found the "Who reads those things?" comments way more grotesque.

Sorry about all that ramblin above, but it was actually one of the more frustrating discussions I've ever had with a "comic fan". And its not because of the fact that he has not read the titles, but the comment that he made in regards to it.

My actual point of starting this thread was to see if anyone has any recommendations for titles that are not so mainstream...

For me, aside from the forementioned titles, I also really like the Buffy omnibus' that are out now. I don't know if you considered those mainstream or not, but its come to my attention that a lot of people were not even aware that Buffy is in a medium other than television.

I was also wondering if anyone has read the "Jack of Fables" title, and could give any feedback on whether its worth the time.