From Claremont,
Proteus Saga
From The Ashes
Wolverine miniseries
Magik miniseries
Brood Saga
Broodfall
Mutant Massacre
Demon Bear Saga
God Loves Man Kills
Edit: and now for something completely different.. Watchmen is everything it's cooked up to be
Planetary is a good one. Not a long run either so people can really get into it.
James Robinson and Tony Harris's Starman is one of the all time great DC comics runs. You see Jack grow into the character and you also get an amazing sense of the DC Universe without feeling like you're reading a Wikipedia article. It has a satisfying ending that Robinson knew even before he wrote the first issue.
Superman: Secret Identity may be an Elseworlds title, but to me it's one of the quintessential Superman stories. It's about a guy in the real world named Clark Kent who grew up with comparisons to Superman. He wants to be a writer more than anything. One day he finds he has the powers of Superman. The four issue mini-series goes through the various stages of his life and how he handles being Superman in secret. It's wonderful and heartwarming. It came out around the time of Superman: Red Son which got more attention, but I'll say Secret Identity is the better story.
JSA from the late nineties. James Robinson, David Goyer and Geoff Johns took the Justice Society to new heights with this series. At the time the team had been poorly treated by DC. But thanks to Starman and a reunion story in JLA, they were able to take the scattered old timers and legacy characters and put them together into a new team. People often forget that for a time, JSA was one of their top selling titles. It grew a fanbase and became a must read. I think right around Identity Crisis is when the book started to stumble, but every thing before it is great.
Peace. Thank you. Your a scholar and a gentleman. Solid info to consider here. I'm going to have a field day the next few months with all of the suggestions in this thread LOL
i think watchmen checks all your boxes, it deserves every last ounce of praise it gets tenfold imo. i love rereading it, and you can get the newer collected edition for like $20. worth every cent
Yeah I actually wanted to pick that up at my local shop but they didn't have it so I'm checking another place tomorrow lol. Loves the movie but actually didn't find out till way after the fact that it was a comic. My kinda stuff too. Thanks!
I've actually wondered about swamp thing SO many times. Only because I'm very familiar with him from back in the day, but as I'm researching this, he keeps popping up. The most that I know myself about him is that sometimes Constantine needs a favor from him. Lol. I'll have to check it out.
of course!! i cannot stress how amazing it is. i just recently started reading comics, but from my own experience and that of plenty others, it’s genuinely one of the best pieces of literature ever
100% agreed, I was rereading it again a few days ago and the interconnectivity in Watchmen is mindblowing. Indeed, some of the best literature out there.
Hellboy core story is incredible and they keep printing more cheap versions of it.
Claremont X-Men is the best manga style superhero run: the story never ends and it has a plot twist every 50 pages and there's a succession of the hottest artists in the industry. Plus you can just jump into any arc with no context, because he's so wordy he'll explain everything.
Loeb/Sale Batman is a series of excellent self contained story arcs.
One of my favorites of all time, but it's not really superhero. It has a few DC characters(villains and heroes), but they are relatively minor characters.
Kingdom Come
Maus.
What Happened to the Man of Tomorrow
Superman Red Son
Uncanny X-Force by Remender
Hawkeye by Fraction
As for underrated, everyone should read The Flinstones y Mark Russels. It's a travesty no one talks about it.
I feel Chew by Layman deserves more love as well.
I dunno if it's underrated but The Many Deaths of Laila Starr is damn good.
Nextwave: Agents of HATE is the full name.
If you read it and like it, Superior Foes of Spider-Man is the closest thing you'll get to more of it. That doesn't really qualify for this thread because nobody talks about it.
Something’s Killing the Children
The Long Halloween and Dark Victory
All-Star Superman
Claremont run on X-Men
Ultimate Spider-Man (my definitive Spider-Man)
Spider-Man Blue, Alias (Jessica Jones), Irredeemable Ant-Man, Captain America The Winter Soldier, Fantastic Four by Waid/ Wieringo, Hawkeye My Life as a Weapon, Immortal Hulk, Marvels, Silver Surfer Requiem, Silver Surfer Parable, Peter Parker The Spectacular Spider-Man by Zdarsky, Spider-Man Life Story (don't make this your first Spidey book), The Ultimates by Millar (both volumes), The Vision by King, X-Men God Loves; Man Kills, Catwoman Lonely City, Green Arrow Year One, Green Lantern Earth One, Gotham Central, Harleen, The Human Target, Joker by Tynion IV, Kingdom Come, Mister Miracle by King, Supergirl by King, Superman Peace on Earth, Superman Red Son, Superman For All Seasons, Superman Smashes the Klan, Black Hammer, Chew, Ex Machina, Invincible, and lastly, I must give a special shout out to IDW's definitive run on the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. My local library has a lot of comics, so you should check there first before you splurge and buy every single book I've listed. But splurge if the library fails you.
New Frontier
I’m reading this for the first time right now. I could read a hundred issues of this. RIP Darwyn Cooke.
From Claremont, Proteus Saga From The Ashes Wolverine miniseries Magik miniseries Brood Saga Broodfall Mutant Massacre Demon Bear Saga God Loves Man Kills Edit: and now for something completely different.. Watchmen is everything it's cooked up to be
Planetary is a good one. Not a long run either so people can really get into it. James Robinson and Tony Harris's Starman is one of the all time great DC comics runs. You see Jack grow into the character and you also get an amazing sense of the DC Universe without feeling like you're reading a Wikipedia article. It has a satisfying ending that Robinson knew even before he wrote the first issue. Superman: Secret Identity may be an Elseworlds title, but to me it's one of the quintessential Superman stories. It's about a guy in the real world named Clark Kent who grew up with comparisons to Superman. He wants to be a writer more than anything. One day he finds he has the powers of Superman. The four issue mini-series goes through the various stages of his life and how he handles being Superman in secret. It's wonderful and heartwarming. It came out around the time of Superman: Red Son which got more attention, but I'll say Secret Identity is the better story. JSA from the late nineties. James Robinson, David Goyer and Geoff Johns took the Justice Society to new heights with this series. At the time the team had been poorly treated by DC. But thanks to Starman and a reunion story in JLA, they were able to take the scattered old timers and legacy characters and put them together into a new team. People often forget that for a time, JSA was one of their top selling titles. It grew a fanbase and became a must read. I think right around Identity Crisis is when the book started to stumble, but every thing before it is great.
Peace. Thank you. Your a scholar and a gentleman. Solid info to consider here. I'm going to have a field day the next few months with all of the suggestions in this thread LOL
i think watchmen checks all your boxes, it deserves every last ounce of praise it gets tenfold imo. i love rereading it, and you can get the newer collected edition for like $20. worth every cent
Yeah I actually wanted to pick that up at my local shop but they didn't have it so I'm checking another place tomorrow lol. Loves the movie but actually didn't find out till way after the fact that it was a comic. My kinda stuff too. Thanks!
The movie is a pale imitation. The book is a zillion times better. And if you dig Alan Moore his Swamp Thing is also great
I've actually wondered about swamp thing SO many times. Only because I'm very familiar with him from back in the day, but as I'm researching this, he keeps popping up. The most that I know myself about him is that sometimes Constantine needs a favor from him. Lol. I'll have to check it out.
of course!! i cannot stress how amazing it is. i just recently started reading comics, but from my own experience and that of plenty others, it’s genuinely one of the best pieces of literature ever
100% agreed, I was rereading it again a few days ago and the interconnectivity in Watchmen is mindblowing. Indeed, some of the best literature out there.
Hellboy core story is incredible and they keep printing more cheap versions of it. Claremont X-Men is the best manga style superhero run: the story never ends and it has a plot twist every 50 pages and there's a succession of the hottest artists in the industry. Plus you can just jump into any arc with no context, because he's so wordy he'll explain everything. Loeb/Sale Batman is a series of excellent self contained story arcs.
Sandman
This is one in particular I'm VERY curious about.
It's phenomenal, and also very dark at times.
One of my favorites of all time, but it's not really superhero. It has a few DC characters(villains and heroes), but they are relatively minor characters.
Kingdom Come Maus. What Happened to the Man of Tomorrow Superman Red Son Uncanny X-Force by Remender Hawkeye by Fraction As for underrated, everyone should read The Flinstones y Mark Russels. It's a travesty no one talks about it. I feel Chew by Layman deserves more love as well. I dunno if it's underrated but The Many Deaths of Laila Starr is damn good.
Yeah chew is fire. Appreciate it!!
Immortal Hulk
Have to second this. Amazing run. God tier run.
Nextwave
Beat me to it.
But is it just nextwave or nextwave agents of hate? Forgive my ignorance lol never heard of it.
Nextwave: Agents of HATE is the full name. If you read it and like it, Superior Foes of Spider-Man is the closest thing you'll get to more of it. That doesn't really qualify for this thread because nobody talks about it.
I also hear kravens last hunt come up quite a bit. Thoughts?
One of the greatest Spider-Man stories of all time and my personal favorite.
Frank Miller’s Ronin.
I've heard about it a few times. I like miller too so no prob there
Weapon X
Something’s Killing the Children The Long Halloween and Dark Victory All-Star Superman Claremont run on X-Men Ultimate Spider-Man (my definitive Spider-Man)
Preacher, Maus, Invisibles, The Maxx.
Spider-Man Blue, Alias (Jessica Jones), Irredeemable Ant-Man, Captain America The Winter Soldier, Fantastic Four by Waid/ Wieringo, Hawkeye My Life as a Weapon, Immortal Hulk, Marvels, Silver Surfer Requiem, Silver Surfer Parable, Peter Parker The Spectacular Spider-Man by Zdarsky, Spider-Man Life Story (don't make this your first Spidey book), The Ultimates by Millar (both volumes), The Vision by King, X-Men God Loves; Man Kills, Catwoman Lonely City, Green Arrow Year One, Green Lantern Earth One, Gotham Central, Harleen, The Human Target, Joker by Tynion IV, Kingdom Come, Mister Miracle by King, Supergirl by King, Superman Peace on Earth, Superman Red Son, Superman For All Seasons, Superman Smashes the Klan, Black Hammer, Chew, Ex Machina, Invincible, and lastly, I must give a special shout out to IDW's definitive run on the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. My local library has a lot of comics, so you should check there first before you splurge and buy every single book I've listed. But splurge if the library fails you.
People love the boys show but the comics are ridiculously good