New To Comics, Recommendations?

[ninjaRiv]

Hellblazer. It's a long series but it's not full of continuity and bullshit (it's about 300 issues, I think) and DC are reprinting the trades so they're easy to collect and enjoy. That'll be right up your street.

Hack/Slash is a lot of fun. If you like slasher films, this is perfect for you. You can pick up the omnibuses and they tend to be self contained but it does have a long run.

Batman: City of Crime by David Lapham. A great Batman story that doesn't require any prior knowledge besides the basics.

Transmetroplotian. Again, it's about 10 volumes so it's a bit long but worth your time, trust me.

Sandman. You will enjoy this. I promise.

Mice Templar: If you ever saw Secret of NIMH you'll know what to expect. But it's even better than that.

Superman Birthright. The best Superman origin story and probably the only Superman book I've ever given the time of day. Fantastic writing.

Punisher MAX. Another long running series but each story is self contained, except for a few reoccurring bad guys. Make sure to start with the Ennis stuff.

Locke and Key. From Stephen King's son. Fantastic read with great characters and plot.

Night Mary. It's a short horror story by Rick Remender who's always better at writing things like this than the superhero genre that he currently works in.

You'll probably like Leage of Extraordinary Gentlemen, since you liked Watchmen. Same author. Although, his Swamp Thing is really the only thing I enjoy by Allan Moore...

Joe the Barbarian. Imo it's the best thing Grant Morrison has ever written. It's a mini series featuring a boy looking for his insulin. His hallucinations turn it into a fantasy epic, though.

Dark Knight Returns. Because it's the best Batman story ever, imo.

Witch Doctor. Two volumes so far, each one comes out as a limited series first (so they're self contained and don't come out all the time. Easy to collect.) It's about a Doctor who specialises in paranormal illnesses. Think House but with magic. And it's better...

Criminal Macabre. Same with Witch Doctor, this comes out as a mini series. It's a noire horror series following a drugged up private detective who solves supernatural crimes (such as werewolf break ins, vampires being dicks, etc).

Welcome to Hoxford. One off graphic novel with fantastic art from Ben Templesmith. It's yet another horror.

Brian Michael Bendis' run on Daredevil. One of the best Daredevil runs of all time.

Saga's pretty decent and I think you'd enjoy that. Sci fi fantasy.

Y the Last Man. All the men except one die off, leaving a world full of women. I expected it to be a terrible lesbian fuelled romp with one guy getting laid all over the place with the last of the straight women but it's genuinely not. It's fantastic.

King City. If you like graffiti style art and a fun story about cats being used as weapons, this should suit you.

30 Days of Night. Horror about vampires in Alaska. You've probably seen or heard of the film.

Scud the Disposable Assassin. A robot assassin who realises that if he kills his target, he blows up.

 

[busterkeatonrules]

Jeff Smith's Bone is awesome. Three cartoon characters stumbling around in a "serious" fantasy setting - and it works! Oh, and once you're done with the main storyline, be sure to check out the hilarious spinoff story Stupid, Stupid Rat Tails!

Also have to mention Warren Ellis' Transmetropolitan - sci-fi at its grittiest, funniest and most depraved. Gonzo journalist Spider Jerusalem is superhumanly obnoxious, violent, psychotic, and addicted to every mind-wrecking substance in existence. He is also the good guy, and you will come to genuinely like him.

Finally, a classic: Popeye! No, none of that mass-produced drivel - the ORIGINAL Popeye strips, from 1929 - 1938! Recently made available from Fantagraphics, these are considered among the finest comics of all time - right up there with Calvin and Hobbes! Series creator Elzie Segar was justly famed for his unique comedic style, and every strip is richly peppered with pure genius - Elzie's gags are not just in the punchlines!

EDIT: OK, just noticed that you want graphic novels and not strips. In this case, how about Grant Morrison's Arkham Asylum? Some prior knowledge of the Batman universe may be required - but if you enjoyed The Killing Joke, you should be ready for it!

Oh, and as for where to obtain comics: I live in Norway, and I get most of my English-language reading material from The Book Depository (http://www.bookdepository.co.uk/). Great prices, excellent selection - and free shipping worldwide! Beat THAT, Amazon!

 

[TheRookie8]

The "Knights of the Old Republic" series has an interesting story, nice characters, and a very good art style (which varies in style here and there). Especially good if you enjoy Star Wars.

"Powers" is also an interesting series, as it is about two homicide detectives in a world where superheroes and villains clash, and they clean up the messes left behind. A warning for mature content.

 

[In Search of Username]

Sandman, by Neil Gaiman, very 'literary', half the characters are lifted from mythology, but also pretty easy to understand in isolation since it doesn't cross over too much with other comics. And also has a particularly moving tragic conclusion at the series' end.

And read more Alan Moore! His run on Swamp Thing was excellent.

Also, Hellblazer is great for the most part, Saga is a very good recent one. And I've heard good things about Grant Morrison's run on Batman(&Robin).

And if you wanted to try manga too, give Lone Wolf and Cub a shot.

As for where to find them, I dunno, there don't seem to be any really good comic shops in my area and the selections available in book shops kinda suck. Forbidden Planet's usually good if you can find one.

 

[rembrandtqeinstein]

pretty much anything written by Warren Ellis

The problem with going for Ellis first is that everything else will seem crappy by comparison.

Walking Dead is really good.

If you want more "generic" comics Spawn from the early 90s "darker and edgier" comics is fun.

 

[Murais]

Treat your brain out to a fancy dinner and give it some romance. Read Sandman.

(As others have said, I can't recommend this enough. It's incredibly intelligent, has characters with extreme depth, and if you're a mythology buff, you will appreciate a lot of subtle references throughout the work. It really is probably the most wonderful graphic novel series I have ever read.)

Barring that, I am enjoying me a lot of Saga right now. It's a fairly new series, but it's full of pulpy-goodness. Reminds me of Romeo & Juliet mixed with Star Wars and a heap of dry wit and dark humor. Plus, the art is pretty fantastic:

Spoiler

 

[Arqus_Zed]

Blacksad (series)
Thorgal (series _ Though I only recommend the original Rosinksi - Van Hamme run)
Aria (series _ Though the last few have been kind of disappointing)
The Chninkel (stand alone graphic novel)
And pretty much everything by François Boucq

That's some real quality right there!

 

[Fox12]

How has no one mentioned Sandman yet? Far and away the most obvious next step for you if you're getting into the classic rise of the literary comic, and it's a pure joy from start to finish. I've recently introduced my daughter to it and it's been great to see someone else experience it for the first time.

From the same era, there's also V for Vendetta (already mentioned), Swamp Thing and Hellblazer.

Neil Gaiman's work on Miracleman was the best thing he ever wrote in my opinion but didn't last long enough for him to really hit his stride.

If you're interested in something a bit different, you might also try Cerebus. The first book is just a silly Conan parody, but the subsequent books up to and including Guys are kind of amazing (apart from Melmoth which is a bit dull). Jaka's Story isn't a bad starting point, it stands pretty well on its own. After Guys, though, the whole thing does kind of fall to bits as Dave Sim descended inexorably into arseholedom.

I struggle in the comic book store with the sheer volume of books there are to choose from and I don't really have the money to read as many as I'd like.

I know of Neil Gaiman, he's an interesting writer. I'll have to check out Sandman sometime soon.

Also, thanks everybody for the recommendations, a lot of these look like they're really good!

 

[Angelous Wang]

My favourites:

The Killing Joke (you already read).
Joker by Brian Azzarello (it's a very fucked up/mature story though)
JLA Earth 2.
Legend of the Dark Claw (a one off Marvel-DC cross over).

If you want some break in the comic norm there is Empowered Vol 1-7.

It's one big comedy about a sexy blonde D list Superhero would often loses her powers and gets tied up bondage style all the time. She also got a sexy ninja best friend and buff cake boyfriend for the ladies. It's also on of those rare comics that has sex in it, though it's 100% softcore.

And if you enjoy JLA Earth 2, you might want to find the JLA issues 107-114 as these comic are a follow up.

 

[dragonswarrior]

Saga is amazing; it's written by the guy who did Y: The Last Man and it's a space opera and it's brilliantly written (though still ongoing).

Anything that includes both Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale. Batman: The Long Halloween has already been recommended (and I liked Dark Victory even better which is the sequel) but I also REALLY enjoyed Daredevil: Yellow.

I could throw in another recommendation for Sandman but this thread already has that covered.

I would HIGHLY recommend Marvels because the artwork is stunning and the writing is top notch.

Also it didn't seem like you were looking for web comic recommendations; despite this I feel it is my duty to recommend Girl Genius and Order of the Stick. Girl Genius is a hell of a lot of well written fun, while Order of the Stuck manages to be hilarious, heartbreaking, and drawn in nothing but stick figures.

 

[SerithVC]

i'd recommend the "Astonishing X-Men" volumes 1 to 4. i've recently got back into comics myself, and being a hunge X-Men fan, i picked up the first volume on a whim and now i can't wait for each payday so i can pick up the next.not sure where to go next after i have all the Astonishing X-Men volumes, but a quick google search should help me out with that.

 

[Fox12]

Saga is amazing; it's written by the guy who did Y: The Last Man and it's a space opera and it's brilliantly written (though still ongoing).

Anything that includes both Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale. Batman: The Long Halloween has already been recommended (and I liked Dark Victory even better which is the sequel) but I also REALLY enjoyed Daredevil: Yellow.

I could throw in another recommendation for Sandman but this thread already has that covered.

I would HIGHLY recommend Marvels because the artwork is stunning and the writing is top notch.

Also it didn't seem like you were looking for web comic recommendations; despite this I feel it is my duty to recommend Girl Genius and Order of the Stick. Girl Genius is a hell of a lot of well written fun, while Order of the Stuck manages to be hilarious, heartbreaking, and drawn in nothing but stick figures.

I'll take web comic recommendations, I've just already read so many of them because of T.V. tropes, haha. I haven't read Girl Genius though, so maybe I'll check it out tonight.

 

[drummond13]

It's kind of all downhill from Watchmen and The Killing Joke. But definitely check out Y The Last Man, Ex Machina, Lions of Baghdad, and many of the others recommended on this forum. Not a bad list, really.

 

[SecondPrize]

I'll put another vote in for Transmetropolitan. I never liked superheroes nor comics by extension but someone put me onto transmet and it's great.

 

[KazeAizen]

Dark Knight Returns. Because it's the best Batman story ever, imo.

Which has the worst possible version of Superman ever. I watched the movie and liked it but this is one of those things that I'm in a love hate relationship with. I love the big three and their books and I like good books about them but I don't like it when pot shots are taken at them. I blame this book on most people's modern interpretation of Superman and that is not good. I have yet to see a story about Superman that does the same degrading to Batman. Sorry about the rant. I'm just bitter at this because Supes is my favorite superhero of all time and I really like Batman so yeah this one is a weird one for me.

 

[CrazyGirl17]

Any suggestions? Well...

Scott Pilgrim is really awesome.

Jeff Smith's Bone is good if you like fantasy.

Marvels and Kingdom Come are good superhero fare (though I suppose a bit of background mayh be needed...)

 

[ninjaRiv]

Dark Knight Returns. Because it's the best Batman story ever, imo.

Which has the worst possible version of Superman ever. I watched the movie and liked it but this is one of those things that I'm in a love hate relationship with. I love the big three and their books and I like good books about them but I don't like it when pot shots are taken at them. I blame this book on most people's modern interpretation of Superman and that is not good. I have yet to see a story about Superman that does the same degrading to Batman. Sorry about the rant. I'm just bitter at this because Supes is my favorite superhero of all time and I really like Batman so yeah this one is a weird one for me.

I saw you talk about this and was going to respond. So I'm glad you responded first!

I understand, Superman does come off as a bad guy. BUT I think you're viewing it from the wrong angle. This is an alternate future where Superheroes have been degraded, made unpopular and shunned by society. Batman thrives on that while Superman's good soul was crushed under all the weight. I think it showed him more as a lost soul, rather than a jackass. I liked this Superman. The way he desperately wanted Bruce to stop shows that he never gave up on him and that he'll always believe in second chances. Even at the end, this was true. I mentioned I'm not a fan of Superman but this book and Birthright are the books that make me want to check out more Superman (so, if you've got any recommendations on that... lol). So, yeah... I saw it from a more positive, optimistic view point. I think Superman was a good guy till the end but he had been ruined by society.

And yeah, there's no chance of seeing a story where Batman is degraded. Can you imagine DC doing something like that, especially now? I would like to see it, though. Batman goes over the edge sort of thing. Although, I think he has done that a couple of times.

 

[eBusiness]

If you get tired of traditional superheroes and/or dead trees you should try out Girl Genius http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20021104 , great story, great visuals, great humour.

 

[Mister K]

I haven't read any new comic book in about 2 or 3 years, but still:

Non-superheroic:
1. Sin city. A collection of shorts about events that happen in one city. Corrupted cops and politicians, femme fatales, likable heroic protagonists included.

2.Preacher. A priest gets merged with half-demon, half-angel child, get power of The Voice of God, and now, in company of his ex girlfriend and Irish vampire, is seeking God to get some answers.

3.Transmetropolitan. A story about gonzo-journalist, who can be described as "likable bastard", and his adventures in semi-dystopian future.

4.Sandman. A comic-book about an embodiment of Dream. Written by Neil Geiman.

Superheroic:
1. Infinity Sagas (from Thanos Quest to The End). A set of stories that revolve around Thanos, The Mad Titan, and his various attempts to conquer and/or save the Universe with help of other superpowered beings.

2. Deadpool. It's about a crazy mercenary with heart of gold, sadistic tendencies and Wolverines healing factor. Read a few early issues and, if you don't like Deadpool as a character, or the humor of the series, then don't read it further, because this comicbook, while being undeniably fun and tragic, is not for everyone.

 

[MCerberus]

Change of pace from the previous recommendations: Bravest Warriors. Pendalton Ward's net series turned comic that does for sci-fi what Adventure Time does to fantasy. Like the Adventure Time series, it's pure comedy, but their less ADD nonsequitor than the cartoons.

Also Deadpool, Merc with a Mouth: Headcase. It's considered the first really excellent Deadpool arc and it comes in complete form.

As for where to get it: just google comic shops around you. Go in, say hi to the clerks if you want. Maybe check out when event nights are. Comic shops pretty much thrive on inclusiveness, so nobody will judge your book choices. I advise you to gawk at the price of Magic cards while you're there though.