Amazing video!👍👏 I just began my comic book collection and found Toon Haven. They have an incredible range of digital comics for every genre, including the hard to find ones. Lifetime updates too!😁
Yeah, I don't think he read it. It's all right though; just when he thinks he has read it all, one of the greatest treasures will be waiting to be discovered
Troy Chavis yeeaah I guess. Not sure if I woulda put it on even tho it’s my favourite comic of all time. If it’s more like a crash course to comics then idk if it fits
Lotsa classics on your list dude! Honorable mention of course would have to go to Sandman :) also this may be a silly question but do they make those omnibus editions in softcover or are they hardcover only?
I was also surprised that Killing Joke was #1. Not Alan Moore's best story. The artwork is awesome, though. I also agree that the Watchmen movie doesn't get as much love as it deserves, the director's cut version, especially. Didn't love Preacher.
I loved Preacher but never got to finish it because mom cut up and burned all my comic books everytime she found them. Now that I'm older and have more time to myself, I'd love to see where that story went and pray it was better than that shit show they gave us on AMC. Watchmen the mini-series was better than Zack Snyder's Watchmen, IMO
I'd say DC generally has the better characters and stories, but Marvel has absolutely stomped DC for movies over the last decade so that's obviously earned them a lot more popularity from fans and casual audiences alike.
#10 - Planet Hulk/World War Hulk #09 - Preacher (Absolute Edition) #08 - Frank Miller's The Dark Knight Returns #07 - Frank Miller's Daredevil #06 - Batman: Court of Owls #05 - Batman: The Long Halloween #04 - Geoff Johns' Green Lanten Corps #03 - Kingdom Come (Absolute Edition) #02 - Alan Moore's Watchmen #01 - Batman: The Killing Joke
@@ssjssgecko5411 ... and go read Sandman. And Bone. And the entire output of Carl Barks' Uncle Scrooge stories. And the MAD comics. And EC horror, science fiction, and war comics. And Little Lulu. And Astro City. And One Month to Live. And ... I can do this all day. }]
Mark Millar's Old Man Logan is my personal favorite. It's everything you'd want in a Wolverine story and creates an interesting take on the future of the marvel universe.
@@r520jr8 the sequels aren't bad either. Not nearly as good as Millar's story but they satisfy any curiosity regarding Logan's future from where he left off.
Absolute Watchmen is my most prized possession in all of my comicbook collection. It is simultaneously a time capsule epitomizing everything 80s as well as timeless in its approach to storytelling. But the best thing about it is that it is a complete story, you dont need to know anything before it and it completes the story so satisfactorily that you dont need anything to follow it up. And the absolute edition just makes every part of it shine in its crisp and oversized visuals as well as tons of historic extras written by Alan Moore.
"Preacher" was my introduction to Garth Ennis... Absolutely loved it! Watchmen and The Killing Joke are near the top of my list too. One I would have put on the list right at the top for me is 'The Boys' by Garth Ennis. It's on par with the Preacher. :)
Hey this your first ever video that I have watched , I must say I love the passion - the way you care about this stuff. It makes this video more enjoyable . Keep making such content.
Picked up Planet Hulk around Christmas, awesome read. Been torn on going with Snyder Batman or Injustice next. Love the omnibus videos, I was always against it until I got swayed by you. Kinda hate you for that lol, because now I have a whole list I wanna buy 🤣😂🤣😂 -Dustin
I recently read the entire Injustice omnibus and it was awesome from beginning to end. But Batman omnibus by Snyder is a good pick as well, it’s on my reading list
Your top ten list is pretty good but I think there are other stories that you could add like Uncanny X-Men Dark Phoenix Saga, Moore's Miracle Man, Maus and Morrison's Doom Patrol. It is hard to narrow it down to 10 when there is so many good stories out there.
@@anthonysantos3366 Don't wait any longer, my friend. Go on eBay, and hunt yourself down a copy of this CLASSIC tale. There are some who actually call this the greatest Doctor Doom story of all-time.
The Eternity Saga with Doctor Strange by Steve Ditko was an amazing Silver Age story arc. I still need to get into newer comics. Great post. I love all the book videos. Have an excellent day :)
I absolutely love Watchment, Killing Joke, Dark Knight Returns & Frank Miller’s Daredevil. That being said I was surprised how much of this stuff was really recent releases. I will have to check out some of the ones I haven’t read. Great video, I’m new to the channel, but I love it. You’re inspiring me to get back into the comics game :)
The Long Halloween is also my favourite Batman story! But there is so much more to discover in comics, besides Batman, and also besides superhero comics at large! Here is 16 more of my all-time favorites - besides Jeph Loeb's "Batman: The Long Halloween"... "Alpha" (by Jens Harder) is about how the universe, our planet, and life on it came into being, up to the first humans; a sort of scientific comic - but also drawing a lot from human art, cultures and myths, for inspiration in illustrating it. "Berlin" (by Jason Lutes) is historical fiction but very well researched; a story of losing and finding oneself, of widening ones personal horizon and discovering a larger world, a story of a wide open society closing down on itself, a story of urban cultural richness and stifling individual poverty, a story of a cosmopolitan city, a story of economical, political and societal division, and a story of the rise of fascism. "Blankets" (by Craig Thompson) is brutal and dreamlike at the same time, blending naturalistic narration with magical realism and surrealistic imagery, autobiographically honest, emotionally intense, bleak and romantic; a coming of age story, a story of childhood abuse, of youthful confusion, of adolescent healing, and of mature creativity. "Fun Home" (by Alison Bechdel) is tragedy meets comedy, is sarcasm meets love, it has precise observation, dry wit and self-aware commentary; it's a coming of age story about a broken home, about emotional distance, about unspoken closeness, about family secrets, about finding (self-) acceptance and redemption through art. "Ghost World" (by Daniel Clowes) is alienating, askew, awkward, casual, confusing, cringey, disconcerting, distant, dorky; it is elliptical, episodic, earnest, and it is about puberty, estrangement, feeling out of place and out of time and out of synch with the world, and it is also eerily good at it. "Jimmy Corrigan" (by Chris Ware) is nothing less but The Great American Novel in nothing more but mainly postal stamp sized panels and episodic memories, be it told through stream of consciousness narration or postcard views of the Columbian world exhibition; it's a story about America, about modernity, about its dreams, and about its nightmares. (When it comes to "the great American novel", for me personally, it is a tie between this great graphic novel of episodic vignettes and Jeffrey Eugenides's "pure" novel "Middlesex", an epic family saga echoing ancient Greek mythology in modern literary form.) "Julius Corentin Acquefacques" (by Marc-Antoine Mathieu) is to comics what a silent black and white film is to movies: its concentrated essence; it is a trip, a revery and a revelation, a quest, and it is abstract, it is bold, it is minimalistic in form - but taken to maximal effects, as such it is claustrophobic, it is kafkaesque, it is scary and it is surreal, it is unique, it is dreamlike, it is existential, it is funny, it is self-aware, it challenges the reader to be overwhelmed, to be puzzled, to create, to empathize, to experience, to feel, to laugh, to marvel, to observe, to question, to revel, to think, to wonder... "Maus" (by Art Spiegelman) is as haunting as it is humane, it is as gruesome as it is hopeful, as bitter as it is sweet, it is as simple in style as it is complex in subject matter, it is as humble as it is great; it is a story of death and survival, of intergenerational trauma, of family ties, of estrangement and closeness. "Persepolis" (by Marjane Satrapi) is a story of a childhood in pre- & post-revolutionary Iran, a youth as a refugee in Austria, and an adolescence in France; it is a tale of distant and present memories, of family tales, of personal experience and of collective history, of hopes and dreams, of fears and of losses, of alienation, loneliness, depression and death, but also of finding hope in art and expression, in family heritage, in creative freedom, and in an open if not always welcoming society, but also a very sad and melancholy story of disenchantment and disillusionment, of oppression and war, of innocence lost, and of the cruelty of naivety and ignorance. "The Sandman" (by Neil Gaiman) is a disparate but coherent, all-encompassing and almost megalomaniac meta-mythology; it is a tale about the human condition, about destiny, desire, dream, delight/delirium, destruction, despair and death, about heaven and hell, past and present, dreams of the future, living nightmares and landscapes of the soul, of ethereal and eternal realms, of change and of endurance, of power and helplessness, of compassion and cruelty, of youth and old age, of folly and of wisdom, of comic book heroes and villains from myths, and about a Dream that dreams up dreams and moves through dreams, almost dreamlike oblivious about itself. "Stalin's Spy in Tokyo" (by Isabel Kreitz) is an episodic biographical and historical graphic novel about Richard Sorge, a German journalist at the German embassy in Japan during the time the Nazi regime had already gained its utmost power, Germany was officially still an ally of the Soviet Republic but secretly preparing for the larger part of its genocidal war against the Slavic, Russian and Jewish peoples in all of Europe; it is a story told in a naturalistic manner and nuanced in style, personal as well as political, and it shows the complexities of diplomacy and espionage, of personal ambition and international politics, the dilemma of navigating oneself through conscience and convictions, increasing desillusionment and old ideals, loyalties and sympathies, survival instinct and other urges, fears and hopes, regret and resignation, compliance and complicity, opportunity and opposition, about the difficulty of choosing between the lesser of two evils when faced with uncertainty, about the imminent personal danger of doing anything and the ethical and societal danger of doing nothing. "Town of Evening Calm, Country of Cherry Blossoms" (by Fumiyo Kōno) is a beautifully sad story about the last days and hours of Hiroshima before its nuclear holocaust perpetrated by the USA; it is history from the bottom in the best way imaginable. "Understanding Comics" (by Scott McCloud) is a non-fiction comic about comics; it tells the history of comics, it defines comics as an art-form, it showcases the structural elements a comic consists of, their basic narrative functions, it gives examples of their usage, and it gives a brief course in how to read and interpret a comic, as such it is a comprehensive exercise in analysing and synthesizing comics, providing readers with technical terms and tools and easy examples and asking them to delve deeper into the medium and come up with more orderly and rational explanations of their intuitive reading experience as well as a better appreciation of what makes this artform unique and appealing. "V for Vendetta" (by Alan Moore) is one the best revenge tales ever told, one of the most disconcerting dystopias ever put into comicbook form, one of the most engaging tales about manipulation by shock and awe, psychological torture and double-bind, political power by division and terror, the disconcerting appeal and authoritarian rule of fascism that has ever appeared in fiction; it takes the form of a placatively simple one-man-army anti-hero against a fascist state pulp story, but turns it into something more complex, an alternate contemporary history/sci-fi time-line against the backdrop of real-life political developments current at the time of its conception/publication: Reagonomics, Thatcherism, anti-union policies, economic recession, political unrest, international terrorism, the Cold War, threat of nuclear holocaust, the rise of British nationalism and fascist parties. "Violent Cases" (by Neil Gaiman) is a tall tale about a small person, a story about stories we tell ourselves and stories we tell others, and about how the line between them can blur; it is a surreal and fragmented, detailed and vague, almost nightmarish story about innocence lost, about horrific birthday parties and gleeful executions, about awesome and awful father figures, about inhibition and prohibition, about gangsters, starry nights and evil magicians, about storytelling itself. "Watchmen" (by Alan Moore) is a deconstruction of larger-than-life, super-powered comic-book heroes, their reactionary policies, and also of the paradigm of cold war game theory, which is not only the political backdrop to Watchmen's story-line but also a crucial plot element; it is also a cynical parable on the political U. S. doctrine of acting as a world police, and at the same time it is a meta-story about plotting a narrative - and a self-aware meta-comment on the artform of (not only superhero) comics at large, with a lot of (arche-)typical parallels in structure and style.
Surprisingly I've read 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 8, 9 and 10. My Top 10 in no particular order. Saga (Brian K. Vaughan) The Walking Dead (Robert Kirkman) Planetary (Warren Ellis) Old Man Logan (Mark Millar) Berserk (Kentaro Miura) Preacher (Garth Ennis) Daredevil (Brian Michael Bendis) Kraven's Last Hunt (JM DeMatteis) Supreme Power (J. M. Straczynski) The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (Alan Moore)
My top 17 in alphabetical order: "Alpha" by Jens Harder: A science comic on the evolution of the universe up to the first humans; also drawing a lot of inspiration from human art, cultures and myths when it comes to the illustrations. "Batman: The Long Halloween" by Jeph Loeb: One of the more down to earth Batman comics, a true detective comic; with finest narration and clearest illustrations it is suitable for beginners and casual readers as well as afficinados and connoisseurs. "Berlin" by Jason Lutes: Historical fiction but very well researched; a story of life in the German capital city between the world wars, the social disparity, the political conflicts, the cosmopolitan culture of art and clubbing on the one hand, the sheer poverty and struggle for survival on the other hand, and the creepy, crawlingly closing down on itself of a society torn between political extremes. "Blankets" by Craig Thompson: Autobiographically honest, emotionally intense, bleak and romantic at the same time, stylistically between stark naturalism and surrealist metaphors of the protagonist's emotional state: A coming of age story about religious emotional abuse, a sexual and romantic awakening, and emancipation by art. "Fun Home" by Alison Bechdel: Tragedy meets comedy, precise observation meets dry wit and self-aware commentary, sarcasm is outweighed by love: A bittersweet coming of age story about family secrets and finding (self-) acceptance and redemption through art. "Ghost World" by Daniel Clowes: All the awkwardness, cringe, dorkiness, estrangement and weltschmerz of puberty - packed into small episodes, moods, vignettes; slices of life about feeling out of place, out of time, out of synch with the world. "Jimmy Corrigan" by Chris Ware: The Great American Novel in comic book form, nothing more and nothing less; told through stream of consciousness narration or by postcard views, mostly in tiny stamp-sized panels, but including great visions of the world; a story about Americana, the Columbian world exhibition, today's urban sprawl, personal memories across generations, historic visions of a future long gone ... about modernity, its dreams and nightmares. "Julius Corentin Acquefacques" by Marc-Antoine Mathieu: Experimental, surrealist, kafkaesque, trippy and unique; a daring exploration of the artform, visual storytelling that defies words and strict linear logic, and which is to comics what an abstract silent black & white film is to movies: its concentrated essence, bound to make you wonder. "Maus" by Art Spiegelman: A haunting and humane re-telling of the holocaust as a family history - but more than just that; a complex story of death and survival, of intergenerational trauma, of family ties, of estrangement and closeness, the lasting emotional and psychological impact on survivors' family relations and worldviews. "Persepolis" by Marjane Satrapi: A story of a childhood in pre- & post-revolutionary Iran, a youth as a refugee in Austria, and an adolescence in France; told in bold and stark, high contrast, black and white imagery - through distant and present memories, of family tales, of personal experience and of collective history, of hopes and dreams, of fears and of losses, of alienation, loneliness, depression and death, but also of finding hope in art and expression, in family heritage, in creative freedom, and in an open if not always welcoming society. "The Sandman" by Neil Gaiman: An all-encompassing meta-mythology, drawing from literature, ancient myths, medieval history, modern pop culture; it is a tale about the human condition, about destiny, desire, dream, delight/delirium, destruction, despair and death - also about heaven and hell, past and present, dreams of the future, living nightmares and landscapes of the soul, of ethereal and eternal realms, of change and of endurance, of power and helplessness, compassion and cruelty, youth and old age, folly and wisdom, comic book heroes and villains, real life people, and about a Dream that dreams up dreams and moves through dreams but is almost dreamlike oblivious about itself. "Stalin's Spy in Tokyo" by Isabel Kreitz: A historical graphic novel and part-time biography of Richard Sorge, a German journalist at the German embassy in Japan during the time the Nazi regime had already gained its utmost power, when Germany was officially still an ally of the Soviet Republic but already secretly preparing for the larger part of its genocidal war against the Slavic, Russian and Jewish peoples in all of Europe; it is naturalistic and nuanced in style, personal as well as political, and it shows the complexities of diplomacy and espionage, of personal ambition and international politics, the dilemma of having to choose the least of various evils whilst faced with political uncertainty and personal danger. "Town of Evening Calm, Country of Cherry Blossoms" by Fumiyo Kōno: A beautifully sad story about a simple life in Hiroshima at the eve of its nuclear holocaust perpetrated by the USA; a tale of history from the bottom in the best way imaginable. "Understanding Comics" by Scott McCloud: A non-fiction comic about comics, their history, their specific features as an art-form, their structural elements with their respective narrative functions, examples of their usage, and a brief course in how to read and interpret a comic; a great tool for analyzing comics, providing readers with technical terms and inviting them to delve deeper into the medium and by understanding its specifics and narrative techniques come to a new appreciation of what makes this artform unique and appealing. "V for Vendetta" by Alan Moore: One of the best revenge tales ever told, one of the most disconcerting dystopias ever put into comicbook form, one of the most engaging tales about manipulation by shock and awe, psychological torture and double-bind, political power by division and terror, the disconcerting appeal and authoritarian rule of fascism that has ever appeared in fiction; it takes the form of a placatively simple one-man-army anti-hero against a fascist state pulp story, but turns it into something more complex, an alternate contemporary history/sci-fi time-line against the backdrop of real-life political developments from the early 1980s. "Violent Cases" by Neil Gaiman: A tall tale about a small person, a story about stories we tell ourselves and stories we tell others, and about how the line between them can blur; it is a surreal and fragmented, detailed and vague, almost nightmarish story about innocence lost, about horrific birthday parties and gleeful executions, about awesome and awful father figures, about inhibition and prohibition, about gangsters, starry nights and evil magicians, about storytelling itself. "Watchmen" by Alan Moore: A deconstruction of super-powered comic-book hero mythology, of the paradigm of cold war game theory, of the narrative structures of comic books as an artform; also a cynical parable/satire on the U. S. political doctrine of acting as a world police - and also packed with loads of clockwork symbolism.
Yo, after watching a video like this I don't wanna be the guy that says "CanN YOoUuu MaAakeeEE a ViDEoooO AbBouT" but I'm legit curious about your take on the best events both Marvel and DC. I mean from Crisis and Secret Wars and the sort of story but specially during the Golden Era of those stories (Disassembled, Identity Crisis, Infinity Crisis, Secret War, 52, Civil War and all that).
For Gem being more of a Marvel guy DC dominated this list! Thats what I like to see! I personally would have put Sandman and Lucifer somewhere on the list. Probably would have removed planet hulk.
@@skaterdude7277 it's an anthology of stories unrelated to TLH or DV. However Loeb and sale did a one shot last year called The Long Halloween Special that is related.
It's really sad to think that most comics are about superheroes, comics, as a medium, have the potential to deliver much higher quality stuff. This problem is particularly evident in the US, where superheroes represent a minimum of 80% of the content in a comic book store.
One of my favorites that I hardly ever see mentioned is Daredevil Yellow, Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale are a great team and this is probably my favorite origin story of Daredevil. Love his friendship with Foggy and his beginning romance with Karen. Plus I just love Daredevil in the yellow suit. Also Batman Hush.
Some of the most interesting and proactive comic books or graphic novels I've ever read were these titles. " God Loves ; Man Kills " - The Uncanny X-MEN, an examination into racism, bigotry, and a secret conspiracy ; " Scout " by Tim Truman, - A post-apocalyptic view of Texas, Israel, and a Shattered America , and lastly " Martha Washington " - An African-American woman Saves America ! Please take a good look at these.
I guess everyone has his/her own top list. To me Sandman is the absolute no.1, then Watchmen is a close no.2. Others are hard to put in order, just off the top of my head: Sin City, the Walking Dead, Superman: Secret Identity, Metal Gear Solid comic by Ashley Wood (being a die-hard fan of the first MGS game), V for Vendetta, Preacher, Stray Bullets... Just finished the Killing Joke last week. It's expected from Alan Moore, a quite deep story with lasting effect making you think back from time to time. But it's just too short to make into my list.
Superhero comic books are overrated. I'd vote for (in no particular order) Watchmen, Dark Knight Returns, 100 Bullets, DMZ, The Sandman, Scalped, Criminal, Sin City, Maus, and Scott Pilgrim.
If you wanna go beyond superheroes, check out "Alpha" by Jens Harder, "Berlin" by Jason Lutes, "Blankets" by Craig Thompson, "Fun Home" by Alison Bechdel, "Ghost World" by Daniel Clowes, "It Was the War of the Trenches" by Jacques Tardi, "Jimmy Corrigan: The Smartest Kid on Earth" by Chris Ware, "Julius Corentin Acquefacques" by Marc-Antoine Mathieu, "Maus" by Art Spiegelman, "Persepolis" by Marjane Satrapi, "Stalin's Spy in Tokyo" by Isabel Kreitz, "Town of Evening Calm, Country of Cherry Blossoms" by Fumiyo Kōno, "Understanding Comics" by Scott McCloud, "Violent Cases" by Neil Gaiman, and please drop a comment on how you like them afterwards.
_Snyder's Batman_ 'OWLS' isn't even A Batman Top 10 IMO...... Let alone Snyder's Best Batman! Which is actually _Scott Snyder's Detective Comics 871-881;_ 'BLACK MIRROR' (Fun House Mirror).. The Format & construction of the shorter 2 & 3 part 'BLACK MIRROR' stories (like 12 ishs in total)- that all conclude in the final 2 comics is (Paul Dini-esque) Perfect !! It's Dark, creepy modern noir lit,, via Jock's art. You get A Mix of Old & New Villains, w/ A surprise twist ending. It's A MUST READ! The ORG Dtec Comics Volume (why DC is named DC) went out w/ A Bang! Just Before they foolishly relaunched it for New 52.. & On the other hand _Snyder's_ OWLS is like the little Brother/ Secondary version of Grant Morrison's BLACK GLOVE & Batman RIP. Its the same template, Without All the Great Segway & prolouge RIP. Had ((Ref. Batman 655-658, 667-669, 664-665, 672-674 // All the 'Black Glove' & '3 Ghosts of Batman' sht). > Actual TOP 10 Comics {single issues} ________________ - FLASH 182 (Vol.2); _'The Ice Cold Origin of Captain Cold',_ by GL & Flash ROGUE Gallery Master- Geoff Johns.. - SWAMP THING 21 _'The Anatomy Lesson'_ Its Swampy's Origin. Yet its Narrated buy his arch-enemy The Floronic Man. All made possible via writer Alan Moore! Its A Classic indeed, Its Moore's Best single comic ( word for word ). SUPERMAN 708, By J.M. Straczynski & Chris Roberson w/ Eddy Barrow's Pencils! If you like looking at Crazy, Wacky DC Silver-Age Time Travel Comic book covers- than this comic is for you! FINAL CRISIS (ONE-SHOT) 'SECRET FILES' 1; _The Ballad of Justin Ballantine,_ by the incomparable Len Wein! The Greatest Justice League Villain (who never lost) has returned. LIBRA ..... Essentially forgotten to Time, post the Events of JLoA 111 (vol.1).. This Awesome, Super-Powered Villain finally returns! Now Decades later in JLoA 21 (vol.2) & The DCU #0/ 25 Cents One-shot.. B-U-T Libra's actual Origin & [it]s Shocking Connection to A one- Professor Ted Knight (OG STAR MAN), will Shock You! If it hasn't already.... Who is Libra? And Where Has Libra been all this time? This is How You set-up A CRISIS! -
Sorry man, for this critic and for my English. But I can't understand someone says Watchmen movie is comic accurate. The comic goes on about a group of freaks that dress like heroes to do what they want: Murder, rape, racism, sexism, etc.... and the movie is about superheroes. I mean, come on, Rorschach was a fucking Nazi in the comic and a cool guy in the movie. I love the comic book, I think it's probably one of the best visual novel created, but the movie is just and insult. (Alan Moore thinks the same and that's why he don't let his name to appear at any time of the movie)
I love videos like this! Ive just recently got into reading and collecting comics, and this helps a lot with finding a starting point in books to pick up next. Thanks and much love, man!
I love it when people take a new or re-newed interest in the medium. So, here is a list of comics I love. Only a few of them are an ongoing series, or a part of one, so there is plenty of standalone stuff that can be read in a single session. Here goes: "Alpha" (by Jens Harder) is about how the universe, our planet, and life on it came into being, up to the first humans; a sort of scientific comic - but also drawing a lot from human art, cultures and myths, for inspiration in illustrating it. "Batman: The Long Halloween" (by Jeph Loeb) is one of the more down to earth Batman comics, a true detective comic, and maybe the finest in terms of narration and the clearest in terms of pictures; an easy but involving read, full of intensity and suspense, worthwhile for comic book beginners and casual readers as well as afficinados and connoisseurs. "Berlin" (by Jason Lutes) is historical fiction but very well researched; a story of losing and finding oneself, of widening ones personal horizon and discovering a larger world, a story of a wide open society closing down on itself, a story of urban cultural richness and stifling individual poverty, a story of a cosmopolitan city, a story of economical, political and societal division, and a story of the rise of fascism. "Blankets" (by Craig Thompson) is brutal and dreamlike at the same time, blending naturalistic narration with magical realism and surrealistic imagery, autobiographically honest, emotionally intense, bleak and romantic; a coming of age story, a story of childhood abuse, of youthful confusion, of adolescent healing, and of mature creativity. "Fun Home" (by Alison Bechdel) is tragedy meets comedy, is sarcasm meets love, it has precise observation, dry wit and self-aware commentary; it's a coming of age story about a broken home, about emotional distance, about unspoken closeness, about family secrets, about finding (self-) acceptance and redemption through art. "Ghost World" (by Daniel Clowes) is alienating, askew, awkward, casual, confusing, cringey, disconcerting, distant, dorky; it is elliptical, episodic, earnest, and it is about puberty, estrangement, feeling out of place and out of time and out of synch with the world, and it is also eerily good at it. "Jimmy Corrigan" (by Chris Ware) is nothing less but The Great American Novel in nothing more but mainly postal stamp sized panels and episodic memories, be it told through stream of consciousness narration or postcard views of the Columbian world exhibition; it's a story about America, about modernity, about its dreams, and about its nightmares. (When it comes to "the great American novel", for me personally, it is a tie between this great graphic novel of episodic vignettes and Jeffrey Eugenides's "pure" novel "Middlesex", an epic family saga echoing ancient Greek mythology in modern literary form.) "Julius Corentin Acquefacques" (by Marc-Antoine Mathieu) is to comics what a silent black and white film is to movies: its concentrated essence; it is a trip, a revery and a revelation, a quest, and it is abstract, it is bold, it is minimalistic in form - but taken to maximal effects, as such it is claustrophobic, it is kafkaesque, it is scary and it is surreal, it is unique, it is dreamlike, it is existential, it is funny, it is self-aware, it challenges the reader to be overwhelmed, to be puzzled, to create, to empathize, to experience, to feel, to laugh, to marvel, to observe, to question, to revel, to think, to wonder... "Maus" (by Art Spiegelman) is as haunting as it is humane, it is as gruesome as it is hopeful, as bitter as it is sweet, it is as simple in style as it is complex in subject matter, it is as humble as it is great; it is a story of death and survival, of intergenerational trauma, of family ties, of estrangement and closeness. "Persepolis" (by Marjane Satrapi) is a story of a childhood in pre- & post-revolutionary Iran, a youth as a refugee in Austria, and an adolescence in France; it is a tale of distant and present memories, of family tales, of personal experience and of collective history, of hopes and dreams, of fears and of losses, of alienation, loneliness, depression and death, but also of finding hope in art and expression, in family heritage, in creative freedom, and in an open if not always welcoming society, but also a very sad and melancholy story of disenchantment and disillusionment, of oppression and war, of innocence lost, and of the cruelty of naivety and ignorance. "The Sandman" (by Neil Gaiman) is a disparate but coherent, all-encompassing and almost megalomaniac meta-mythology; it is a tale about the human condition, about destiny, desire, dream, delight/delirium, destruction, despair and death, about heaven and hell, past and present, dreams of the future, living nightmares and landscapes of the soul, of ethereal and eternal realms, of change and of endurance, of power and helplessness, of compassion and cruelty, of youth and old age, of folly and of wisdom, of comic book heroes and villains from myths, and about a Dream that dreams up dreams and moves through dreams, almost dreamlike oblivious about itself. "Stalin's Spy in Tokyo" (by Isabel Kreitz) is an episodic biographical and historical graphic novel about Richard Sorge, a German journalist at the German embassy in Japan during the time the Nazi regime had already gained its utmost power, Germany was officially still an ally of the Soviet Republic but secretly preparing for the larger part of its genocidal war against the Slavic, Russian and Jewish peoples in all of Europe; it is a story told in a naturalistic manner and nuanced in style, personal as well as political, and it shows the complexities of diplomacy and espionage, of personal ambition and international politics, the dilemma of navigating oneself through conscience and convictions, increasing desillusionment and old ideals, loyalties and sympathies, survival instinct and other urges, fears and hopes, regret and resignation, compliance and complicity, opportunity and opposition, about the difficulty of choosing between the lesser of two evils when faced with uncertainty, about the imminent personal danger of doing anything and the ethical and societal danger of doing nothing. "Town of Evening Calm, Country of Cherry Blossoms" (by Fumiyo Kōno) is a beautifully sad story about the last days and hours of Hiroshima before its nuclear holocaust perpetrated by the USA; it is history from the bottom in the best way imaginable. "Understanding Comics" (by Scott McCloud) is a non-fiction comic about comics; it tells the history of comics, it defines comics as an art-form, it showcases the structural elements a comic consists of, their basic narrative functions, it gives examples of their usage, and it gives a brief course in how to read and interpret a comic, as such it is a comprehensive exercise in analysing and synthesizing comics, providing readers with technical terms and tools and easy examples and asking them to delve deeper into the medium and come up with more orderly and rational explanations of their intuitive reading experience as well as a better appreciation of what makes this artform unique and appealing. "V for Vendetta" (by Alan Moore) is one the best revenge tales ever told, one of the most disconcerting dystopias ever put into comicbook form, one of the most engaging tales about manipulation by shock and awe, psychological torture and double-bind, political power by division and terror, the disconcerting appeal and authoritarian rule of fascism that has ever appeared in fiction; it takes the form of a placatively simple one-man-army anti-hero against a fascist state pulp story, but turns it into something more complex, an alternate contemporary history/sci-fi time-line against the backdrop of real-life political developments current at the time of its conception/publication: Reagonomics, Thatcherism, anti-union policies, economic recession, political unrest, international terrorism, the Cold War, threat of nuclear holocaust, the rise of British nationalism and fascist parties. "Violent Cases" (by Neil Gaiman) is a tall tale about a small person, a story about stories we tell ourselves and stories we tell others, and about how the line between them can blur; it is a surreal and fragmented, detailed and vague, almost nightmarish story about innocence lost, about horrific birthday parties and gleeful executions, about awesome and awful father figures, about inhibition and prohibition, about gangsters, starry nights and evil magicians, about storytelling itself. "Watchmen" (by Alan Moore) is a deconstruction of larger-than-life, super-powered comic-book heroes, their reactionary policies, and also of the paradigm of cold war game theory, which is not only the political backdrop to Watchmen's story-line but also a crucial plot element; it is also a cynical parable on the political U. S. doctrine of acting as a world police, and at the same time it is a meta-story about plotting a narrative - and a self-aware meta-comment on the artform of (not only superhero) comics at large, with a lot of (arche-)typical parallels in structure and style.
"Alpha" by Jens Harder. "Blankets" by Craig Thompson. "Fun Home" by Alison Bechdel. "Ghost World" by Daniel Clowes. "Jimmy Corrigan" by Chris Ware. "Julius Corentin Acquefacques" by Marc-Antoine Mathieu. "Persepolis" by Marjane Satrapi. "The Sandman" by Neil Gaiman. "Understanding Comics" by Scott McCloud. "Violent Cases" by Neil Gaiman.
Just read locke and key and the comic is 10 times better then the TV show , currently reading umbrella academy I think next I'm going to read the boys.
I'm finishing up the Miller Daredevil run now and I must say, it is an amazing run. I think the companion omnibus has the more iconic stories but both are great.
Agree, companion omnibus has outstanding stories, Miller and co. at their best. But, those same "companion" stories are incredibly heightned but the backstory provided for by the 100+ or so issues that came before it. Both omnis complement each other. And let's not forget about the Elektra short stories that were spawned during that time. Damn, those were good times to be reading comics.
I'm Mike S. Miller, artist for DC's Injustice: Gods Among Us, and cover artist for Game of Thrones. I have two channels, this one, 'Blacklist Universe', and an all-art channel, 'Mike Draws Comics'. Please check them out!
If you wanna go beyond superheroes and big companies: "Alpha" by Jens Harder: A science comic on the evolution of the universe up to the first humans; also drawing a lot of inspiration from human art, cultures and myths when it comes to the illustrations. "Berlin" by Jason Lutes: Historical fiction but very well researched; a story of life in the German capital city between the world wars, the social disparity, the political conflicts, the cosmopolitan culture of art and clubbing on the one hand, the sheer poverty and struggle for survival on the other hand, and the creepy, crawlingly closing down on itself of a society torn between political extremes. "Blankets" by Craig Thompson: Autobiographically honest, emotionally intense, bleak and romantic at the same time, stylistically between stark naturalism and surrealist metaphors of the protagonist's emotional state: A coming of age story about religious emotional abuse, a sexual and romantic awakening, and emancipation by art. "Fun Home" by Alison Bechdel: Tragedy meets comedy, precise observation meets dry wit and self-aware commentary, sarcasm is outweighed by love: A bittersweet coming of age story about family secrets and finding (self-) acceptance and redemption through art. "Ghost World" by Daniel Clowes: All the awkwardness, cringe, dorkiness, estrangement and weltschmerz of puberty - packed into small episodes, moods, vignettes; slices of life about feeling out of place, out of time, out of synch with the world. "It Was the War of the Trenches" by Jacques Tardi: One of the most accurate depictions of the first World War in fiction; stories about the everyday life of trench warfare and the arbitrariness of death from the soldiers' perspective. "Jimmy Corrigan" by Chris Ware: The Great American Novel in comic book form, nothing more and nothing less; told through stream of consciousness narration or by postcard views, mostly in tiny stamp-sized panels, but including great visions of the world; a story about Americana, the Columbian world exhibition, today's urban sprawl, personal memories across generations, historic visions of a future long gone ... about modernity, its dreams and nightmares. "Julius Corentin Acquefacques" by Marc-Antoine Mathieu: Experimental, surrealist, kafkaesque, trippy and unique; a daring exploration of the artform, visual storytelling that defies words and strict linear logic, and which is to comics what an abstract silent black & white film is to movies: its concentrated essence, bound to make you wonder. "Maus" by Art Spiegelman: A haunting and humane re-telling of the holocaust as a family history - but more than just that; a complex story of death and survival, of intergenerational trauma, of family ties, of estrangement and closeness, the lasting emotional and psychological impact on survivors' family relations and worldviews. "Persepolis" by Marjane Satrapi: A story of a childhood in pre- & post-revolutionary Iran, a youth as a refugee in Austria, and an adolescence in France; told in bold and stark, high contrast, black and white imagery - through distant and present memories, of family tales, of personal experience and of collective history, of hopes and dreams, of fears and of losses, of alienation, loneliness, depression and death, but also of finding hope in art and expression, in family heritage, in creative freedom, and in an open if not always welcoming society. "Stalin's Spy in Tokyo" by Isabel Kreitz: A historical graphic novel and part-time biography of Richard Sorge, a German journalist at the German embassy in Japan during the time the Nazi regime had already gained its utmost power, when Germany was officially still an ally of the Soviet Republic but already secretly preparing for the larger part of its genocidal war against the Slavic, Russian and Jewish peoples in all of Europe; it is naturalistic and nuanced in style, personal as well as political, and it shows the complexities of diplomacy and espionage, of personal ambition and international politics, the dilemma of having to choose the least of various evils whilst faced with political uncertainty and personal danger. "Town of Evening Calm, Country of Cherry Blossoms" by Fumiyo Kōno: A beautifully sad story about a simple life in Hiroshima at the eve of its nuclear holocaust perpetrated by the USA; a tale of history from the bottom in the best way imaginable. "Understanding Comics" by Scott McCloud: A non-fiction comic about comics, their history, their specific features as an art-form, their structural elements with their respective narrative functions, examples of their usage, and a brief course in how to read and interpret a comic; a great tool for analyzing comics, providing readers with technical terms and inviting them to delve deeper into the medium and by understanding its specifics and narrative techniques come to a new appreciation of what makes this artform unique and appealing. "Violent Cases" by Neil Gaiman: A tall tale about a small person, a story about stories we tell ourselves and stories we tell others, and about how the line between them can blur; it is a surreal and fragmented, detailed and vague, almost nightmarish story about innocence lost, about horrific birthday parties and gleeful executions, about awesome and awful father figures, about inhibition and prohibition, about gangsters, starry nights and evil magicians, about storytelling itself.
Not from the market leaders: "Alpha" by Jens Harder: A science comic on the evolution of the universe up to the first humans; also drawing a lot of inspiration from human art, cultures and myths when it comes to the illustrations. "Berlin" by Jason Lutes: Historical fiction but very well researched; a story of life in the German capital city between the world wars, the social disparity, the political conflicts, the cosmopolitan culture of art and clubbing on the one hand, the sheer poverty and struggle for survival on the other hand, and the creepy, crawlingly closing down on itself of a society torn between political extremes. "Blankets" by Craig Thompson: Autobiographically honest, emotionally intense, bleak and romantic at the same time, stylistically between stark naturalism and surrealist metaphors of the protagonist's emotional state: A coming of age story about religious emotional abuse, a sexual and romantic awakening, and emancipation by art. "Fun Home" by Alison Bechdel: Tragedy meets comedy, precise observation meets dry wit and self-aware commentary, sarcasm is outweighed by love: A bittersweet coming of age story about family secrets and finding (self-) acceptance and redemption through art. "Ghost World" by Daniel Clowes: All the awkwardness, cringe, dorkiness, estrangement and weltschmerz of puberty - packed into small episodes, moods, vignettes; slices of life about feeling out of place, out of time, out of synch with the world. "It Was the War of the Trenches" by Jacques Tardi: One of the most accurate depictions of the first World War in fiction; stories about the everyday life of trench warfare and the arbitrariness of death from the soldiers' perspective. "Jimmy Corrigan" by Chris Ware: The Great American Novel in comic book form, nothing more and nothing less; told through stream of consciousness narration or by postcard views, mostly in tiny stamp-sized panels, but including great visions of the world; a story about Americana, the Columbian world exhibition, today's urban sprawl, personal memories across generations, historic visions of a future long gone ... about modernity, its dreams and nightmares. "Julius Corentin Acquefacques" by Marc-Antoine Mathieu: Experimental, surrealist, kafkaesque, trippy and unique; a daring exploration of the artform, visual storytelling that defies words and strict linear logic, and which is to comics what an abstract silent black & white film is to movies: its concentrated essence, bound to make you wonder. "Maus" by Art Spiegelman: A haunting and humane re-telling of the holocaust as a family history - but more than just that; a complex story of death and survival, of intergenerational trauma, of family ties, of estrangement and closeness, the lasting emotional and psychological impact on survivors' family relations and worldviews. "Persepolis" by Marjane Satrapi: A story of a childhood in pre- & post-revolutionary Iran, a youth as a refugee in Austria, and an adolescence in France; told in bold and stark, high contrast, black and white imagery - through distant and present memories, of family tales, of personal experience and of collective history, of hopes and dreams, of fears and of losses, of alienation, loneliness, depression and death, but also of finding hope in art and expression, in family heritage, in creative freedom, and in an open if not always welcoming society. "Stalin's Spy in Tokyo" by Isabel Kreitz: A historical graphic novel and part-time biography of Richard Sorge, a German journalist at the German embassy in Japan during the time the Nazi regime had already gained its utmost power, when Germany was officially still an ally of the Soviet Republic but already secretly preparing for the larger part of its genocidal war against the Slavic, Russian and Jewish peoples in all of Europe; it is naturalistic and nuanced in style, personal as well as political, and it shows the complexities of diplomacy and espionage, of personal ambition and international politics, the dilemma of having to choose the least of various evils whilst faced with political uncertainty and personal danger. "Town of Evening Calm, Country of Cherry Blossoms" by Fumiyo Kōno: A beautifully sad story about a simple life in Hiroshima at the eve of its nuclear holocaust perpetrated by the USA; a tale of history from the bottom in the best way imaginable. "Understanding Comics" by Scott McCloud: A non-fiction comic about comics, their history, their specific features as an art-form, their structural elements with their respective narrative functions, examples of their usage, and a brief course in how to read and interpret a comic; a great tool for analyzing comics, providing readers with technical terms and inviting them to delve deeper into the medium and by understanding its specifics and narrative techniques come to a new appreciation of what makes this artform unique and appealing. "Violent Cases" by Neil Gaiman: A tall tale about a small person, a story about stories we tell ourselves and stories we tell others, and about how the line between them can blur; it is a surreal and fragmented, detailed and vague, almost nightmarish story about innocence lost, about horrific birthday parties and gleeful executions, about awesome and awful father figures, about inhibition and prohibition, about gangsters, starry nights and evil magicians, about storytelling itself.
I can see why all this comics made a Top Ten list like this but it sure seems like people only think Marvel and DC make comics. That being said, Don Rosa’s Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck absolutely needs to be on a list like this. Also Batman: No Man’s Land is head and shoulders above Court of Owls and definitely deserves to be on this list instead. Y: The Last Man, the original Sandman run and Fables all from DC’s Vertigo line deserve some love here as well. I could go on but we only have ten spots and a lot of the comics listed here deserve a spot there as well lol.
My personal top 17 in alphabetical order: "Alpha" by Jens Harder: A science comic on the evolution of the universe up to the first humans; also drawing a lot of inspiration from human art, cultures and myths when it comes to the illustrations. "Batman: The Long Halloween" by Jeph Loeb: One of the more down to earth Batman comics, a true detective comic; with finest narration and clearest illustrations it is suitable for beginners and casual readers as well as afficinados and connoisseurs. "Berlin" by Jason Lutes: Historical fiction but very well researched; a story of life in the German capital city between the world wars, the social disparity, the political conflicts, the cosmopolitan culture of art and clubbing on the one hand, the sheer poverty and struggle for survival on the other hand, and the creepy, crawlingly closing down on itself of a society torn between political extremes. "Blankets" by Craig Thompson: Autobiographically honest, emotionally intense, bleak and romantic at the same time, stylistically between stark naturalism and surrealist metaphors of the protagonist's emotional state: A coming of age story about religious emotional abuse, a sexual and romantic awakening, and emancipation by art. "Fun Home" by Alison Bechdel: Tragedy meets comedy, precise observation meets dry wit and self-aware commentary, sarcasm is outweighed by love: A bittersweet coming of age story about family secrets and finding (self-) acceptance and redemption through art. "Ghost World" by Daniel Clowes: All the awkwardness, cringe, dorkiness, estrangement and weltschmerz of puberty - packed into small episodes, moods, vignettes; slices of life about feeling out of place, out of time, out of synch with the world. "Jimmy Corrigan" by Chris Ware: The Great American Novel in comic book form, nothing more and nothing less; told through stream of consciousness narration or by postcard views, mostly in tiny stamp-sized panels, but including great visions of the world; a story about Americana, the Columbian world exhibition, today's urban sprawl, personal memories across generations, historic visions of a future long gone ... about modernity, its dreams and nightmares. "Julius Corentin Acquefacques" by Marc-Antoine Mathieu: Experimental, surrealist, kafkaesque, trippy and unique; a daring exploration of the artform, visual storytelling that defies words and strict linear logic, and which is to comics what an abstract silent black & white film is to movies: its concentrated essence, bound to make you wonder. "Maus" by Art Spiegelman: A haunting and humane re-telling of the holocaust as a family history - but more than just that; a complex story of death and survival, of intergenerational trauma, of family ties, of estrangement and closeness, the lasting emotional and psychological impact on survivors' family relations and worldviews. "Persepolis" by Marjane Satrapi: A story of a childhood in pre- & post-revolutionary Iran, a youth as a refugee in Austria, and an adolescence in France; told in bold and stark, high contrast, black and white imagery - through distant and present memories, of family tales, of personal experience and of collective history, of hopes and dreams, of fears and of losses, of alienation, loneliness, depression and death, but also of finding hope in art and expression, in family heritage, in creative freedom, and in an open if not always welcoming society. "The Sandman" by Neil Gaiman: An all-encompassing meta-mythology, drawing from literature, ancient myths, medieval history, modern pop culture; it is a tale about the human condition, about destiny, desire, dream, delight/delirium, destruction, despair and death - also about heaven and hell, past and present, dreams of the future, living nightmares and landscapes of the soul, of ethereal and eternal realms, of change and of endurance, of power and helplessness, compassion and cruelty, youth and old age, folly and wisdom, comic book heroes and villains, real life people, and about a Dream that dreams up dreams and moves through dreams but is almost dreamlike oblivious about itself. "Stalin's Spy in Tokyo" by Isabel Kreitz: A historical graphic novel and part-time biography of Richard Sorge, a German journalist at the German embassy in Japan during the time the Nazi regime had already gained its utmost power, when Germany was officially still an ally of the Soviet Republic but already secretly preparing for the larger part of its genocidal war against the Slavic, Russian and Jewish peoples in all of Europe; it is naturalistic and nuanced in style, personal as well as political, and it shows the complexities of diplomacy and espionage, of personal ambition and international politics, the dilemma of having to choose the least of various evils whilst faced with political uncertainty and personal danger. "Town of Evening Calm, Country of Cherry Blossoms" by Fumiyo Kōno: A beautifully sad story about a simple life in Hiroshima at the eve of its nuclear holocaust perpetrated by the USA; a tale of history from the bottom in the best way imaginable. "Understanding Comics" by Scott McCloud: A non-fiction comic about comics, their history, their specific features as an art-form, their structural elements with their respective narrative functions, examples of their usage, and a brief course in how to read and interpret a comic; a great tool for analyzing comics, providing readers with technical terms and inviting them to delve deeper into the medium and by understanding its specifics and narrative techniques come to a new appreciation of what makes this artform unique and appealing. "V for Vendetta" by Alan Moore: One of the best revenge tales ever told, one of the most disconcerting dystopias ever put into comicbook form, one of the most engaging tales about manipulation by shock and awe, psychological torture and double-bind, political power by division and terror, the disconcerting appeal and authoritarian rule of fascism that has ever appeared in fiction; it takes the form of a placatively simple one-man-army anti-hero against a fascist state pulp story, but turns it into something more complex, an alternate contemporary history/sci-fi time-line against the backdrop of real-life political developments from the early 1980s. "Violent Cases" by Neil Gaiman: A tall tale about a small person, a story about stories we tell ourselves and stories we tell others, and about how the line between them can blur; it is a surreal and fragmented, detailed and vague, almost nightmarish story about innocence lost, about horrific birthday parties and gleeful executions, about awesome and awful father figures, about inhibition and prohibition, about gangsters, starry nights and evil magicians, about storytelling itself. "Watchmen" by Alan Moore: A deconstruction of super-powered comic-book hero mythology, of the paradigm of cold war game theory, of the narrative structures of comic books as an artform; also a cynical parable/satire on the U. S. political doctrine of acting as a world police - and also packed with loads of clockwork symbolism.
I'm kind of disappointed that all the comics are from DC or Marvel. I would of liked to see some Image or Dark Horse titles. I would argue stuff like Locke and Key should be on this list. Or even Invincible. How about it Gem? Make a list of must read books that are not from the big 2.
"Alpha" by Jens Harder. "Berlin" by Jason Lutes. "Blankets" by Craig Thompson. "Fun Home" by Alison Bechdel. "Ghost World" by Daniel Clowes. "It Was the War of the Trenches" by Jacques Tardi. "Jimmy Corrigan: The Smartest Kid on Earth" by Chris Ware. "Julius Corentin Acquefacques" by Marc-Antoine Mathieu. "Maus" by Art Spiegelman. "Persepolis" by Marjane Satrapi. "Stalin's Spy in Tokyo" by Isabel Kreitz. "Town of Evening Calm, Country of Cherry Blossoms" by Fumiyo Kōno. "Understanding Comics" by Scott McCloud. "Violent Cases" by Neil Gaiman.
I don't think it's a hot take. Lots of people would agree with you. I'm one of them, although I'm going to say that Miller's Born Again is better than DKR and Year One (albeit less influential) :)
Sooooo many Batman books on this list! :O No 'House of M'? 'Avengers VS X-Men'? 'Messiah Complex'? 'Original Sin'? 'Fear Itself'? Jonathan Hickman's run on Fantastic Four?
Sandman or a newer one like saga that is amazing btw, something less heroic, dont get me wrong i love superheros but theres is much more out there, it is a good list though
Technically, "The Sandman" includes superheroes in its reality and the Endless are a sort of superbeings themselves. 13 x non-superhero greatness: "Alpha" by Jens Harder: A science comic on the evolution of the universe up to the first humans; also drawing a lot of inspiration from human art, cultures and myths when it comes to the illustrations. "Berlin" by Jason Lutes: Historical fiction but very well researched; a story of life in the German capital city between the world wars, the social disparity, the political conflicts, the cosmopolitan culture of art and clubbing on the one hand, the sheer poverty and struggle for survival on the other hand, and the creepy, crawlingly closing down on itself of a society torn between political extremes. "Blankets" by Craig Thompson: Autobiographically honest, emotionally intense, bleak and romantic at the same time, stylistically between stark naturalism and surrealist metaphors of the protagonist's emotional state: A coming of age story about religious emotional abuse, a sexual and romantic awakening, and emancipation by art. "Fun Home" by Alison Bechdel: Tragedy meets comedy, precise observation meets dry wit and self-aware commentary, sarcasm is outweighed by love: A bittersweet coming of age story about family secrets and finding (self-) acceptance and redemption through art. "Ghost World" by Daniel Clowes: All the awkwardness, cringe, dorkiness, estrangement and weltschmerz of puberty - packed into small episodes, moods, vignettes; slices of life about feeling out of place, out of time, out of synch with the world. "Jimmy Corrigan" by Chris Ware: The Great American Novel in comic book form, nothing more and nothing less; told through stream of consciousness narration or by postcard views, mostly in tiny stamp-sized panels, but including great visions of the world; a story about Americana, the Columbian world exhibition, today's urban sprawl, personal memories across generations, historic visions of a future long gone ... about modernity, its dreams and nightmares. "Julius Corentin Acquefacques" by Marc-Antoine Mathieu: Experimental, surrealist, kafkaesque, trippy and unique; a daring exploration of the artform, visual storytelling that defies words and strict linear logic, and which is to comics what an abstract silent black & white film is to movies: its concentrated essence, bound to make you wonder. "Maus" by Art Spiegelman: A haunting and humane re-telling of the holocaust as a family history - but more than just that; a complex story of death and survival, of intergenerational trauma, of family ties, of estrangement and closeness, the lasting emotional and psychological impact on survivors' family relations and worldviews. "Persepolis" by Marjane Satrapi: A story of a childhood in pre- & post-revolutionary Iran, a youth as a refugee in Austria, and an adolescence in France; told in bold and stark, high contrast, black and white imagery - through distant and present memories, of family tales, of personal experience and of collective history, of hopes and dreams, of fears and of losses, of alienation, loneliness, depression and death, but also of finding hope in art and expression, in family heritage, in creative freedom, and in an open if not always welcoming society. "Stalin's Spy in Tokyo" by Isabel Kreitz: A historical graphic novel and part-time biography of Richard Sorge, a German journalist at the German embassy in Japan during the time the Nazi regime had already gained its utmost power, when Germany was officially still an ally of the Soviet Republic but already secretly preparing for the larger part of its genocidal war against the Slavic, Russian and Jewish peoples in all of Europe; it is naturalistic and nuanced in style, personal as well as political, and it shows the complexities of diplomacy and espionage, of personal ambition and international politics, the dilemma of having to choose the least of various evils whilst faced with political uncertainty and personal danger. "Town of Evening Calm, Country of Cherry Blossoms" by Fumiyo Kōno: A beautifully sad story about a simple life in Hiroshima at the eve of its nuclear holocaust perpetrated by the USA; a tale of history from the bottom in the best way imaginable. "Understanding Comics" by Scott McCloud: A non-fiction comic about comics, their history, their specific features as an art-form, their structural elements with their respective narrative functions, examples of their usage, and a brief course in how to read and interpret a comic; a great tool for analyzing comics, providing readers with technical terms and inviting them to delve deeper into the medium and by understanding its specifics and narrative techniques come to a new appreciation of what makes this artform unique and appealing. "Violent Cases" by Neil Gaiman: A tall tale about a small person, a story about stories we tell ourselves and stories we tell others, and about how the line between them can blur; it is a surreal and fragmented, detailed and vague, almost nightmarish story about innocence lost, about horrific birthday parties and gleeful executions, about awesome and awful father figures, about inhibition and prohibition, about gangsters, starry nights and evil magicians, about storytelling itself.
My #1 is "Batman: Year One." I love how undeveloped Batman is and how it's not "I can fix that because I'm Batman." My second favorite would probably be "Superman For All Seasons." It's a great coming of age story.
Do a top 10 Marvel, DC and creator owned lists separate next time! Would be interested to see those. I'm a Marvel zombie, but I gotta admit DC has some amazing runs out there. It's definitely easier to recommend collected editions for DC stuff over Marvel. Maybe Marvel needs to just let creators create and stop worrying about continuity all the time (don't get me wrong, I love the continuity too). Black Label is the perfect current example of how DC does it right in that regard. Things that should have made the list: Y the Last Man (and anything by BKV really), Uncanny Xforce, Xmen stuff (dark Phoenix saga, astonishing xmen, Grant Morrison, etc!), All-Star Superman, and so many more.
See my comment on 'Out of sight, Out of Mind' Saga hasn't been published for a year and a half. It seems that popular books at Image tend to be forgotten after they are finished (TWD, Invincible, Saga, Papergirls, I Hate Fairyland).
@@spencerwelchii573 I wish the prices on the keys for those books reflect what you said, but that's not the case. I do agree with your statement, but I think most ppl just go for the bigger names. Theres obviously a bizzilion #10 best book videos out there, yet I feel the gem mints picks were pretty linear and lacked variety ie genre/publishers
@@solehead90 almost everyone in the group that participated in this poll are like minded. Nothing wrong with that, but I constantly see the same runs being discussed or recommended
Some of the books you mention, I haven't read and don't feel qualified to comment on. However I do have a few observations. Watchmen and Miller's Daredevil should both be on anyone's top ten list. One thing about Watchmen: The characters are based on the Charlton heroes from the '60s. Moore wanted to use the Charlton heroes to tell the story. DC nixed that as they had other plans for those characters. Re: MIller's Dark Knight What he did with Batman was good. What he did with Superman was not. Re: Kingdom Come. I agree with you about Alex Ross's artwork.The message of the story, however, boils down to this; Captain Marvel died for our sins. I find that offensive. Finally you did not mention Neil Gaiman's Sandman. Best comic book series ever!
I’d have put in All Star Superman by grant Morrison If it’s collected Alan Moor run on Superman whatever happened to the man of tomorrow with For the man who has everything
Amazing video!👍👏 I just began my comic book collection and found Toon Haven. They have an incredible range of digital comics for every genre, including the hard to find ones. Lifetime updates too!😁
I finally found a normal person that talks about comics.
🙌
Me to
Thanks for being cool and not being a big nerd, Gem Mint
@@agentmobius8458real
Sandman, "Am I a joke to you?"
Yeah, I don't think he read it. It's all right though; just when he thinks he has read it all, one of the greatest treasures will be waiting to be discovered
He looks like the dude who use to sell you weed in High school but then some how got into Comics lol
Shut up! wtf 🤣🤣🤣
And just like that dude, he probably makes a lot more money than you, lol.
@@emcdonald10 you so mad for what? weirdo.
Great list. I’m surprised Sandman didn’t make it
Troy Chavis yeeaah I guess. Not sure if I woulda put it on even tho it’s my favourite comic of all time. If it’s more like a crash course to comics then idk if it fits
I mean it’s a huge commitment
I love Sandman, but it does start to feel like homework around vol 8. Definitely worth reading though, superb.👍
Preacher but not Sandman. Travesty.
I am really surprised too but it seems that (Americans mostly) can't read anything else other than cringey superheroes stories.
Wow, Alan Moore's Swamp Thing did not make it to the top 10 in the poll! Another must-read, for me at least.
i was surprised too
Have not read it but I hear many good things
@@louisboyle8906 the Abs ed is stunning too, looking forward to vol. 2.
I wonder why its showing so many comments as being posted 1 month ago lol
Classic
Lotsa classics on your list dude! Honorable mention of course would have to go to Sandman :) also this may be a silly question but do they make those omnibus editions in softcover or are they hardcover only?
I'm like 90% sure that it's only hardcover.
@@mohammedalzoubi9275 yeah same.
there are 3 omnis... beautiful omnis
Oh my god blast from the past! I used to be your biggest fan when I was like 9 😂 I’m almost 15 now, glad you’re still going!
They are called compendiums
Kraven last hunt should have been on the list that's really my only complaint
A really good story i aint a marvel fan but that comic was really really good
I literally just picked it up
Yep, the only Spiderman story worth reading in the 80s.
@@gregbrown8586 spoke facts
Really hope they do something with Kraven's Last Hunt with Black Panther and Spider-Man in the movies.
I was also surprised that Killing Joke was #1. Not Alan Moore's best story. The artwork is awesome, though. I also agree that the Watchmen movie doesn't get as much love as it deserves, the director's cut version, especially. Didn't love Preacher.
TJM060765 we gotta get that Justice League Snyder cut! lol. I agree, killing joke was just okay
Agreed. Killing Joke is Moore's worst work. But Bolland? 🎩
@@unrulysimian3897 Killing Joke is still a fantastic comic tho
Agree about the Watchmen. Snyder does a fantastic job with a story that was for years considered unfilmable.
I loved Preacher but never got to finish it because mom cut up and burned all my comic books everytime she found them. Now that I'm older and have more time to myself, I'd love to see where that story went and pray it was better than that shit show they gave us on AMC. Watchmen the mini-series was better than Zack Snyder's Watchmen, IMO
I just read Court of owls recently for the first time and I was blown away. So good.
What part 1st print ?
i just fished yesterday 12/10
I’m glad to hear this, i JUST bought the court of owls, can’t wait to read it
I was blown away by how much it sucked
@@reginaldforthright805I wouldn’t say it sucked but it definitely isn’t worth it’s praise. I preferred Hush a lot more.
People love DC stories.
This audience anyways!
Its actually surprising because the facebook group seems to be more Marvel oriented.
Marvel is more loved but even with the few stories I’ve read from both DC has better stories
I'd say DC generally has the better characters and stories, but Marvel has absolutely stomped DC for movies over the last decade so that's obviously earned them a lot more popularity from fans and casual audiences alike.
Yeah, people love Marvel movies but people love DC stories if they're looking for something that's dark and more on the real side
DC’a got the stories :)
Justin Lokay right?
Dc has had way better crossovers. Infinite crisis. Final crisis. Blackest night. Brightest Day. Etc.
The thing is I don't like DC's character design.
@@scifirealism5943 tmnt
What about “V For Vendetta” or Batman’s “The Cult”?
#10 - Planet Hulk/World War Hulk
#09 - Preacher (Absolute Edition)
#08 - Frank Miller's The Dark Knight Returns
#07 - Frank Miller's Daredevil
#06 - Batman: Court of Owls
#05 - Batman: The Long Halloween
#04 - Geoff Johns' Green Lanten Corps
#03 - Kingdom Come (Absolute Edition)
#02 - Alan Moore's Watchmen
#01 - Batman: The Killing Joke
So…almost all are superhero comics, and all are DC or Marvel.
Wow.
@@TorstenAdair because superhero comics are the best comics
@@TorstenAdair and?💀💀
@@ssjssgecko5411 ... and go read Sandman. And Bone. And the entire output of Carl Barks' Uncle Scrooge stories. And the MAD comics. And EC horror, science fiction, and war comics. And Little Lulu. And Astro City. And One Month to Live. And ...
I can do this all day. }]
@@TorstenAdair Marvel and DC Comics make all of them look like shit.. no offence mate lol
Mark Millar's Old Man Logan is my personal favorite. It's everything you'd want in a Wolverine story and creates an interesting take on the future of the marvel universe.
Old Man Logan is the last Marvel book I bought. It’s an incredible story
@@r520jr8 the sequels aren't bad either. Not nearly as good as Millar's story but they satisfy any curiosity regarding Logan's future from where he left off.
It’s what got me into comics
It's also my favorite comicbook ever, such an amazing but simple story, lots of wordbuilding, good characters, great writing... i just love it haha
Absolute Watchmen is my most prized possession in all of my comicbook collection. It is simultaneously a time capsule epitomizing everything 80s as well as timeless in its approach to storytelling. But the best thing about it is that it is a complete story, you dont need to know anything before it and it completes the story so satisfactorily that you dont need anything to follow it up. And the absolute edition just makes every part of it shine in its crisp and oversized visuals as well as tons of historic extras written by Alan Moore.
Which one there is quite a few?
@@ziggyc4474 There is only one Absolute edition for Watchmen
@@omrmajeed the hard cover i need a year im looking for it
@@ziggyc4474 www.dccomics.com/graphic-novels/watchmen-1986/watchmen-the-absolute-edition
You should probably buy the original Graphitti edition…
"Preacher" was my introduction to Garth Ennis... Absolutely loved it! Watchmen and The Killing Joke are near the top of my list too. One I would have put on the list right at the top for me is 'The Boys' by Garth Ennis. It's on par with the Preacher. :)
Hey this your first ever video that I have watched , I must say I love the passion - the way you care about this stuff. It makes this video more enjoyable . Keep making such content.
thanks for watching
Picked up Planet Hulk around Christmas, awesome read. Been torn on going with Snyder Batman or Injustice next. Love the omnibus videos, I was always against it until I got swayed by you. Kinda hate you for that lol, because now I have a whole list I wanna buy 🤣😂🤣😂 -Dustin
I recently read the entire Injustice omnibus and it was awesome from beginning to end. But Batman omnibus by Snyder is a good pick as well, it’s on my reading list
Kraven's Last Hunt is in my top 10 reads, that i miss
Love to see DC getting some love!!!
I am fan of marvel if we talk about movies. But DC comics have always been the best yo
@@navtejvirsingh6307 Nope
Marvel comics are way better tham dc comics
Like x men,fantastic four,spiderman stories they are all better
All Star Superman
Batman Year One. 🙁
:(
IMO Batman Year One is better than Killing Joke
Your top ten list is pretty good but I think there are other stories that you could add like Uncanny X-Men Dark Phoenix Saga, Moore's Miracle Man, Maus and Morrison's Doom Patrol. It is hard to narrow it down to 10 when there is so many good stories out there.
"DOCTOR STRANGE DOCTOR DOOM:
TRIUMPH & TORMENT"
Always wanted to read that one.
It’s excellent
I own the book. It's good but isn't top ten material for me.
@@anthonysantos3366 Don't wait any longer, my friend. Go
on eBay, and hunt yourself down a copy of this CLASSIC
tale. There are some who actually call this the greatest
Doctor Doom story of all-time.
The New Frontier by Darwyn Cooke. The one book that truly defines what it means to be a superhero.
I enjoyed every page. I could not stop reading it. It was just, perfect.
@@AjIzIm it one of my all time favorites. Wish more tales in DC and Marvel were like The New Frontier its truly a classic.
@@mr.dccomics9018 all time classic!
I recently read Court of Owls. It’s easily my favorite Batman storyline.
All-Star Superman
The Eternity Saga with Doctor Strange by Steve Ditko was an amazing Silver Age story arc. I still need to get into newer comics. Great post. I love all the book videos. Have an excellent day :)
I absolutely love Watchment, Killing Joke, Dark Knight Returns & Frank Miller’s Daredevil. That being said I was surprised how much of this stuff was really recent releases. I will have to check out some of the ones I haven’t read. Great video, I’m new to the channel, but I love it. You’re inspiring me to get back into the comics game :)
The Long Halloween is my favorite comic book story of all time. I love it so much.
The Long Halloween is also my favourite Batman story!
But there is so much more to discover in comics, besides Batman, and also besides superhero comics at large!
Here is 16 more of my all-time favorites - besides Jeph Loeb's "Batman: The Long Halloween"...
"Alpha"
(by Jens Harder)
is about how the universe, our planet, and life on it came into being, up to the first humans; a sort of scientific comic - but also drawing a lot from human art, cultures and myths, for inspiration in illustrating it.
"Berlin"
(by Jason Lutes)
is historical fiction but very well researched; a story of losing and finding oneself, of widening ones personal horizon and discovering a larger world, a story of a wide open society closing down on itself, a story of urban cultural richness and stifling individual poverty, a story of a cosmopolitan city, a story of economical, political and societal division, and a story of the rise of fascism.
"Blankets"
(by Craig Thompson)
is brutal and dreamlike at the same time, blending naturalistic narration with magical realism and surrealistic imagery, autobiographically honest, emotionally intense, bleak and romantic; a coming of age story, a story of childhood abuse, of youthful confusion, of adolescent healing, and of mature creativity.
"Fun Home"
(by Alison Bechdel)
is tragedy meets comedy, is sarcasm meets love, it has precise observation, dry wit and self-aware commentary; it's a coming of age story about a broken home, about emotional distance, about unspoken closeness, about family secrets, about finding (self-) acceptance and redemption through art.
"Ghost World"
(by Daniel Clowes)
is alienating, askew, awkward, casual, confusing, cringey, disconcerting, distant, dorky; it is elliptical, episodic, earnest, and it is about puberty, estrangement, feeling out of place and out of time and out of synch with the world, and it is also eerily good at it.
"Jimmy Corrigan"
(by Chris Ware)
is nothing less but The Great American Novel in nothing more but mainly postal stamp sized panels and episodic memories, be it told through stream of consciousness narration or postcard views of the Columbian world exhibition; it's a story about America, about modernity, about its dreams, and about its nightmares.
(When it comes to "the great American novel", for me personally, it is a tie between this great graphic novel of episodic vignettes and Jeffrey Eugenides's "pure" novel "Middlesex", an epic family saga echoing ancient Greek mythology in modern literary form.)
"Julius Corentin Acquefacques"
(by Marc-Antoine Mathieu)
is to comics what a silent black and white film is to movies: its concentrated essence; it is a trip, a revery and a revelation, a quest, and it is abstract, it is bold, it is minimalistic in form - but taken to maximal effects, as such it is claustrophobic, it is kafkaesque, it is scary and it is surreal, it is unique, it is dreamlike, it is existential, it is funny, it is self-aware, it challenges the reader to be overwhelmed, to be puzzled, to create, to empathize, to experience, to feel, to laugh, to marvel, to observe, to question, to revel, to think, to wonder...
"Maus"
(by Art Spiegelman)
is as haunting as it is humane, it is as gruesome as it is hopeful, as bitter as it is sweet, it is as simple in style as it is complex in subject matter, it is as humble as it is great; it is a story of death and survival, of intergenerational trauma, of family ties, of estrangement and closeness.
"Persepolis"
(by Marjane Satrapi)
is a story of a childhood in pre- & post-revolutionary Iran, a youth as a refugee in Austria, and an adolescence in France; it is a tale of distant and present memories, of family tales, of personal experience and of collective history, of hopes and dreams, of fears and of losses, of alienation, loneliness, depression and death, but also of finding hope in art and expression, in family heritage, in creative freedom, and in an open if not always welcoming society, but also a very sad and melancholy story of disenchantment and disillusionment, of oppression and war, of innocence lost, and of the cruelty of naivety and ignorance.
"The Sandman"
(by Neil Gaiman)
is a disparate but coherent, all-encompassing and almost megalomaniac meta-mythology; it is a tale about the human condition, about destiny, desire, dream, delight/delirium, destruction, despair and death, about heaven and hell, past and present, dreams of the future, living nightmares and landscapes of the soul, of ethereal and eternal realms, of change and of endurance, of power and helplessness, of compassion and cruelty, of youth and old age, of folly and of wisdom, of comic book heroes and villains from myths, and about a Dream that dreams up dreams and moves through dreams, almost dreamlike oblivious about itself.
"Stalin's Spy in Tokyo"
(by Isabel Kreitz)
is an episodic biographical and historical graphic novel about Richard Sorge, a German journalist at the German embassy in Japan during the time the Nazi regime had already gained its utmost power, Germany was officially still an ally of the Soviet Republic but secretly preparing for the larger part of its genocidal war against the Slavic, Russian and Jewish peoples in all of Europe; it is a story told in a naturalistic manner and nuanced in style, personal as well as political, and it shows the complexities of diplomacy and espionage, of personal ambition and international politics, the dilemma of navigating oneself through conscience and convictions, increasing desillusionment and old ideals, loyalties and sympathies, survival instinct and other urges, fears and hopes, regret and resignation, compliance and complicity, opportunity and opposition, about the difficulty of choosing between the lesser of two evils when faced with uncertainty, about the imminent personal danger of doing anything and the ethical and societal danger of doing nothing.
"Town of Evening Calm, Country of Cherry Blossoms"
(by Fumiyo Kōno)
is a beautifully sad story about the last days and hours of Hiroshima before its nuclear holocaust perpetrated by the USA; it is history from the bottom in the best way imaginable.
"Understanding Comics"
(by Scott McCloud)
is a non-fiction comic about comics; it tells the history of comics, it defines comics as an art-form, it showcases the structural elements a comic consists of, their basic narrative functions, it gives examples of their usage, and it gives a brief course in how to read and interpret a comic, as such it is a comprehensive exercise in analysing and synthesizing comics, providing readers with technical terms and tools and easy examples and asking them to delve deeper into the medium and come up with more orderly and rational explanations of their intuitive reading experience as well as a better appreciation of what makes this artform unique and appealing.
"V for Vendetta"
(by Alan Moore)
is one the best revenge tales ever told, one of the most disconcerting dystopias ever put into comicbook form, one of the most engaging tales about manipulation by shock and awe, psychological torture and double-bind, political power by division and terror, the disconcerting appeal and authoritarian rule of fascism that has ever appeared in fiction; it takes the form of a placatively simple one-man-army anti-hero against a fascist state pulp story, but turns it into something more complex, an alternate contemporary history/sci-fi time-line against the backdrop of real-life political developments current at the time of its conception/publication: Reagonomics, Thatcherism, anti-union policies, economic recession, political unrest, international terrorism, the Cold War, threat of nuclear holocaust, the rise of British nationalism and fascist parties.
"Violent Cases"
(by Neil Gaiman)
is a tall tale about a small person, a story about stories we tell ourselves and stories we tell others, and about how the line between them can blur; it is a surreal and fragmented, detailed and vague, almost nightmarish story about innocence lost, about horrific birthday parties and gleeful executions, about awesome and awful father figures, about inhibition and prohibition, about gangsters, starry nights and evil magicians, about storytelling itself.
"Watchmen"
(by Alan Moore)
is a deconstruction of larger-than-life, super-powered comic-book heroes, their reactionary policies, and also of the paradigm of cold war game theory, which is not only the political backdrop to Watchmen's story-line but also a crucial plot element; it is also a cynical parable on the political U. S. doctrine of acting as a world police, and at the same time it is a meta-story about plotting a narrative - and a self-aware meta-comment on the artform of (not only superhero) comics at large, with a lot of (arche-)typical parallels in structure and style.
@@elevenseven-yq4vu I’ve read most of these and mostly read manga at this point. Thank you for the recommendations though.
Perhaps All-Star Superman could’ve gotten some recognition, even as an honourable mention
Surprisingly I've read 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 8, 9 and 10.
My Top 10 in no particular order.
Saga (Brian K. Vaughan)
The Walking Dead (Robert Kirkman)
Planetary (Warren Ellis)
Old Man Logan (Mark Millar)
Berserk (Kentaro Miura)
Preacher (Garth Ennis)
Daredevil (Brian Michael Bendis)
Kraven's Last Hunt (JM DeMatteis)
Supreme Power (J. M. Straczynski)
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (Alan Moore)
I always recommend Spawn.
My top 17 in alphabetical order:
"Alpha"
by Jens Harder:
A science comic on the evolution of the universe up to the first humans; also drawing a lot of inspiration from human art, cultures and myths when it comes to the illustrations.
"Batman: The Long Halloween"
by Jeph Loeb:
One of the more down to earth Batman comics, a true detective comic; with finest narration and clearest illustrations it is suitable for beginners and casual readers as well as afficinados and connoisseurs.
"Berlin"
by Jason Lutes:
Historical fiction but very well researched; a story of life in the German capital city between the world wars, the social disparity, the political conflicts, the cosmopolitan culture of art and clubbing on the one hand, the sheer poverty and struggle for survival on the other hand, and the creepy, crawlingly closing down on itself of a society torn between political extremes.
"Blankets"
by Craig Thompson:
Autobiographically honest, emotionally intense, bleak and romantic at the same time, stylistically between stark naturalism and surrealist metaphors of the protagonist's emotional state: A coming of age story about religious emotional abuse, a sexual and romantic awakening, and emancipation by art.
"Fun Home"
by Alison Bechdel:
Tragedy meets comedy, precise observation meets dry wit and self-aware commentary, sarcasm is outweighed by love: A bittersweet coming of age story about family secrets and finding (self-) acceptance and redemption through art.
"Ghost World"
by Daniel Clowes:
All the awkwardness, cringe, dorkiness, estrangement and weltschmerz of puberty - packed into small episodes, moods, vignettes; slices of life about feeling out of place, out of time, out of synch with the world.
"Jimmy Corrigan"
by Chris Ware:
The Great American Novel in comic book form, nothing more and nothing less; told through stream of consciousness narration or by postcard views, mostly in tiny stamp-sized panels, but including great visions of the world; a story about Americana, the Columbian world exhibition, today's urban sprawl, personal memories across generations, historic visions of a future long gone ... about modernity, its dreams and nightmares.
"Julius Corentin Acquefacques"
by Marc-Antoine Mathieu:
Experimental, surrealist, kafkaesque, trippy and unique; a daring exploration of the artform, visual storytelling that defies words and strict linear logic, and which is to comics what an abstract silent black & white film is to movies: its concentrated essence, bound to make you wonder.
"Maus"
by Art Spiegelman:
A haunting and humane re-telling of the holocaust as a family history - but more than just that; a complex story of death and survival, of intergenerational trauma, of family ties, of estrangement and closeness, the lasting emotional and psychological impact on survivors' family relations and worldviews.
"Persepolis"
by Marjane Satrapi:
A story of a childhood in pre- & post-revolutionary Iran, a youth as a refugee in Austria, and an adolescence in France; told in bold and stark, high contrast, black and white imagery - through distant and present memories, of family tales, of personal experience and of collective history, of hopes and dreams, of fears and of losses, of alienation, loneliness, depression and death, but also of finding hope in art and expression, in family heritage, in creative freedom, and in an open if not always welcoming society.
"The Sandman"
by Neil Gaiman:
An all-encompassing meta-mythology, drawing from literature, ancient myths, medieval history, modern pop culture; it is a tale about the human condition, about destiny, desire, dream, delight/delirium, destruction, despair and death - also about heaven and hell, past and present, dreams of the future, living nightmares and landscapes of the soul, of ethereal and eternal realms, of change and of endurance, of power and helplessness, compassion and cruelty, youth and old age, folly and wisdom, comic book heroes and villains, real life people, and about a Dream that dreams up dreams and moves through dreams but is almost dreamlike oblivious about itself.
"Stalin's Spy in Tokyo"
by Isabel Kreitz:
A historical graphic novel and part-time biography of Richard Sorge, a German journalist at the German embassy in Japan during the time the Nazi regime had already gained its utmost power, when Germany was officially still an ally of the Soviet Republic but already secretly preparing for the larger part of its genocidal war against the Slavic, Russian and Jewish peoples in all of Europe; it is naturalistic and nuanced in style, personal as well as political, and it shows the complexities of diplomacy and espionage, of personal ambition and international politics, the dilemma of having to choose the least of various evils whilst faced with political uncertainty and personal danger.
"Town of Evening Calm, Country of Cherry Blossoms"
by Fumiyo Kōno:
A beautifully sad story about a simple life in Hiroshima at the eve of its nuclear holocaust perpetrated by the USA; a tale of history from the bottom in the best way imaginable.
"Understanding Comics"
by Scott McCloud:
A non-fiction comic about comics, their history, their specific features as an art-form, their structural elements with their respective narrative functions, examples of their usage, and a brief course in how to read and interpret a comic; a great tool for analyzing comics, providing readers with technical terms and inviting them to delve deeper into the medium and by understanding its specifics and narrative techniques come to a new appreciation of what makes this artform unique and appealing.
"V for Vendetta"
by Alan Moore:
One of the best revenge tales ever told, one of the most disconcerting dystopias ever put into comicbook form, one of the most engaging tales about manipulation by shock and awe, psychological torture and double-bind, political power by division and terror, the disconcerting appeal and authoritarian rule of fascism that has ever appeared in fiction; it takes the form of a placatively simple one-man-army anti-hero against a fascist state pulp story, but turns it into something more complex, an alternate contemporary history/sci-fi time-line against the backdrop of real-life political developments from the early 1980s.
"Violent Cases"
by Neil Gaiman:
A tall tale about a small person, a story about stories we tell ourselves and stories we tell others, and about how the line between them can blur; it is a surreal and fragmented, detailed and vague, almost nightmarish story about innocence lost, about horrific birthday parties and gleeful executions, about awesome and awful father figures, about inhibition and prohibition, about gangsters, starry nights and evil magicians, about storytelling itself.
"Watchmen"
by Alan Moore:
A deconstruction of super-powered comic-book hero mythology, of the paradigm of cold war game theory, of the narrative structures of comic books as an artform; also a cynical parable/satire on the U. S. political doctrine of acting as a world police - and also packed with loads of clockwork symbolism.
FF 48-50 - Galactus trilogy.
Pinnacle Kirby and Lee imo.
Maybe that Thor god butcher run
He'll yeah!
Vol 1 was amazing.
Yo, after watching a video like this I don't wanna be the guy that says "CanN YOoUuu MaAakeeEE a ViDEoooO AbBouT" but I'm legit curious about your take on the best events both Marvel and DC. I mean from Crisis and Secret Wars and the sort of story but specially during the Golden Era of those stories (Disassembled, Identity Crisis, Infinity Crisis, Secret War, 52, Civil War and all that).
The Killing Joke was as anyone says....”Short but sweet!”
For Gem being more of a Marvel guy DC dominated this list! Thats what I like to see! I personally would have put Sandman and Lucifer somewhere on the list. Probably would have removed planet hulk.
There's also a great follow up to The Long Halloween called Dark Victory. Also done by Loeb and Sale.
Is haunted knight another story or a collection of LH and DV
@@skaterdude7277 it's an anthology of stories unrelated to TLH or DV. However Loeb and sale did a one shot last year called The Long Halloween Special that is related.
It's really sad to think that most comics are about superheroes, comics, as a medium, have the potential to deliver much higher quality stuff.
This problem is particularly evident in the US, where superheroes represent a minimum of 80% of the content in a comic book store.
The Dark Knight Returns was also partially depicted in the beginning The Dark Knight Rises.
The Batman Flys Solo - The Batgang - Comedy - th-cam.com/video/HjaySVjfxuo/w-d-xo.html
I'm really glad Watchmen made the list, was one of my first graphic novels and can recommend it to about any new reader.
Maximum carnage
Injustice
Scud the disposal assassin
Knightfall
Johnny the homicidal maniac
The crow skinning the wolves
Star wars dark empire
One of my favorites that I hardly ever see mentioned is Daredevil Yellow, Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale are a great team and this is probably my favorite origin story of Daredevil. Love his friendship with Foggy and his beginning romance with Karen. Plus I just love Daredevil in the yellow suit. Also Batman Hush.
I don't know about Yellow yet, but Loeb/Sale are a great Team. At DC, besides Long Halloween, For All Season is another masterpiece by them.
Bobby Gucci Yea it is, Spider-man Blue is another great one by them and Batman Dark Victory but Long Halloween is one of my favorite Batman books.
Some of the most interesting and proactive comic books or graphic novels I've ever read were these titles. " God Loves ; Man Kills " - The Uncanny X-MEN, an examination into racism, bigotry, and a secret conspiracy ; " Scout " by Tim Truman, - A post-apocalyptic view of Texas, Israel, and a Shattered America , and lastly " Martha Washington " - An African-American woman Saves America ! Please take a good look at these.
I guess everyone has his/her own top list. To me Sandman is the absolute no.1, then Watchmen is a close no.2. Others are hard to put in order, just off the top of my head: Sin City, the Walking Dead, Superman: Secret Identity, Metal Gear Solid comic by Ashley Wood (being a die-hard fan of the first MGS game), V for Vendetta, Preacher, Stray Bullets...
Just finished the Killing Joke last week. It's expected from Alan Moore, a quite deep story with lasting effect making you think back from time to time. But it's just too short to make into my list.
Frank Miller Dark Knight and Daredevil runs were two of my favorites. I LOVE THE KILLING JOKE! One of the BEST Batman stories ever.
Superhero comic books are overrated. I'd vote for (in no particular order) Watchmen, Dark Knight Returns, 100 Bullets, DMZ, The Sandman, Scalped, Criminal, Sin City, Maus, and Scott Pilgrim.
If you wanna go beyond superheroes, check out "Alpha" by Jens Harder, "Berlin" by Jason Lutes, "Blankets" by Craig Thompson, "Fun Home" by Alison Bechdel, "Ghost World" by Daniel Clowes, "It Was the War of the Trenches" by Jacques Tardi, "Jimmy Corrigan: The Smartest Kid on Earth" by Chris Ware, "Julius Corentin Acquefacques" by Marc-Antoine Mathieu, "Maus" by Art Spiegelman, "Persepolis" by Marjane Satrapi, "Stalin's Spy in Tokyo" by Isabel Kreitz, "Town of Evening Calm, Country of Cherry Blossoms" by Fumiyo Kōno, "Understanding Comics" by Scott McCloud, "Violent Cases" by Neil Gaiman, and please drop a comment on how you like them afterwards.
_Snyder's Batman_ 'OWLS' isn't even A Batman Top 10 IMO...... Let alone Snyder's Best Batman! Which is actually _Scott Snyder's Detective Comics 871-881;_ 'BLACK MIRROR' (Fun House Mirror)..
The Format & construction of the shorter 2 & 3 part 'BLACK MIRROR' stories (like 12 ishs in total)- that all conclude in the final 2 comics is (Paul Dini-esque) Perfect !!
It's Dark, creepy modern noir lit,, via Jock's art. You get A Mix of Old & New Villains, w/ A surprise twist ending. It's A MUST READ! The ORG Dtec Comics Volume (why DC is named DC) went out w/ A Bang! Just Before they foolishly relaunched it for New 52..
&
On the other hand _Snyder's_ OWLS is like the little Brother/ Secondary version of Grant Morrison's BLACK GLOVE & Batman RIP. Its the same template, Without All the Great Segway & prolouge RIP. Had ((Ref. Batman 655-658, 667-669, 664-665, 672-674 // All the 'Black Glove' & '3 Ghosts of Batman' sht).
> Actual TOP 10 Comics {single issues}
________________
- FLASH 182 (Vol.2); _'The Ice Cold Origin of Captain Cold',_ by GL & Flash ROGUE Gallery Master- Geoff Johns..
- SWAMP THING 21 _'The Anatomy Lesson'_ Its Swampy's Origin. Yet its Narrated buy his arch-enemy The Floronic Man. All made possible via writer Alan Moore! Its A Classic indeed, Its Moore's Best single comic ( word for word ).
SUPERMAN 708, By J.M. Straczynski & Chris Roberson w/ Eddy Barrow's Pencils! If you like looking at Crazy, Wacky DC Silver-Age Time Travel Comic book covers- than this comic is for you!
FINAL CRISIS (ONE-SHOT) 'SECRET FILES' 1; _The Ballad of Justin Ballantine,_ by the incomparable Len Wein! The Greatest Justice League Villain (who never lost) has returned. LIBRA .....
Essentially forgotten to Time, post the Events of JLoA 111 (vol.1).. This Awesome, Super-Powered Villain finally returns!
Now Decades later in JLoA 21 (vol.2) & The DCU #0/ 25 Cents One-shot..
B-U-T Libra's actual Origin & [it]s Shocking Connection to A one- Professor Ted Knight (OG STAR MAN), will Shock You! If it hasn't already.... Who is Libra? And Where Has Libra been all this time? This is How You set-up A CRISIS!
-
Alan Moore’s Swamp Thing easily is a must read.
Nice list. This is very focused on superhero (DC)... There is a lot more outside the superhero world (Marvel/DC).. Ghost in the Shell for example
Sorry man, for this critic and for my English. But I can't understand someone says Watchmen movie is comic accurate. The comic goes on about a group of freaks that dress like heroes to do what they want: Murder, rape, racism, sexism, etc.... and the movie is about superheroes. I mean, come on, Rorschach was a fucking Nazi in the comic and a cool guy in the movie. I love the comic book, I think it's probably one of the best visual novel created, but the movie is just and insult. (Alan Moore thinks the same and that's why he don't let his name to appear at any time of the movie)
Jodorowsky's 'The Metabarons'
And the incal books
The killing joke deserves No1
Loved that story.
I prefer ennis’ hitman to preacher, such a good run. Wish they would make an omnibus.
BATMAN YEAR ONE should be on the list but great picks anyway.
dc's stories is just so good
I like Scott Snyder's run on Batman but I believe Grant Morrison's run was better.
I love videos like this! Ive just recently got into reading and collecting comics, and this helps a lot with finding a starting point in books to pick up next. Thanks and much love, man!
I love it when people take a new or re-newed interest in the medium. So, here is a list of comics I love. Only a few of them are an ongoing series, or a part of one, so there is plenty of standalone stuff that can be read in a single session.
Here goes:
"Alpha"
(by Jens Harder)
is about how the universe, our planet, and life on it came into being, up to the first humans; a sort of scientific comic - but also drawing a lot from human art, cultures and myths, for inspiration in illustrating it.
"Batman: The Long Halloween"
(by Jeph Loeb)
is one of the more down to earth Batman comics, a true detective comic, and maybe the finest in terms of narration and the clearest in terms of pictures; an easy but involving read, full of intensity and suspense, worthwhile for comic book beginners and casual readers as well as afficinados and connoisseurs.
"Berlin"
(by Jason Lutes)
is historical fiction but very well researched; a story of losing and finding oneself, of widening ones personal horizon and discovering a larger world, a story of a wide open society closing down on itself, a story of urban cultural richness and stifling individual poverty, a story of a cosmopolitan city, a story of economical, political and societal division, and a story of the rise of fascism.
"Blankets"
(by Craig Thompson)
is brutal and dreamlike at the same time, blending naturalistic narration with magical realism and surrealistic imagery, autobiographically honest, emotionally intense, bleak and romantic; a coming of age story, a story of childhood abuse, of youthful confusion, of adolescent healing, and of mature creativity.
"Fun Home"
(by Alison Bechdel)
is tragedy meets comedy, is sarcasm meets love, it has precise observation, dry wit and self-aware commentary; it's a coming of age story about a broken home, about emotional distance, about unspoken closeness, about family secrets, about finding (self-) acceptance and redemption through art.
"Ghost World"
(by Daniel Clowes)
is alienating, askew, awkward, casual, confusing, cringey, disconcerting, distant, dorky; it is elliptical, episodic, earnest, and it is about puberty, estrangement, feeling out of place and out of time and out of synch with the world, and it is also eerily good at it.
"Jimmy Corrigan"
(by Chris Ware)
is nothing less but The Great American Novel in nothing more but mainly postal stamp sized panels and episodic memories, be it told through stream of consciousness narration or postcard views of the Columbian world exhibition; it's a story about America, about modernity, about its dreams, and about its nightmares.
(When it comes to "the great American novel", for me personally, it is a tie between this great graphic novel of episodic vignettes and Jeffrey Eugenides's "pure" novel "Middlesex", an epic family saga echoing ancient Greek mythology in modern literary form.)
"Julius Corentin Acquefacques"
(by Marc-Antoine Mathieu)
is to comics what a silent black and white film is to movies: its concentrated essence; it is a trip, a revery and a revelation, a quest, and it is abstract, it is bold, it is minimalistic in form - but taken to maximal effects, as such it is claustrophobic, it is kafkaesque, it is scary and it is surreal, it is unique, it is dreamlike, it is existential, it is funny, it is self-aware, it challenges the reader to be overwhelmed, to be puzzled, to create, to empathize, to experience, to feel, to laugh, to marvel, to observe, to question, to revel, to think, to wonder...
"Maus"
(by Art Spiegelman)
is as haunting as it is humane, it is as gruesome as it is hopeful, as bitter as it is sweet, it is as simple in style as it is complex in subject matter, it is as humble as it is great; it is a story of death and survival, of intergenerational trauma, of family ties, of estrangement and closeness.
"Persepolis"
(by Marjane Satrapi)
is a story of a childhood in pre- & post-revolutionary Iran, a youth as a refugee in Austria, and an adolescence in France; it is a tale of distant and present memories, of family tales, of personal experience and of collective history, of hopes and dreams, of fears and of losses, of alienation, loneliness, depression and death, but also of finding hope in art and expression, in family heritage, in creative freedom, and in an open if not always welcoming society, but also a very sad and melancholy story of disenchantment and disillusionment, of oppression and war, of innocence lost, and of the cruelty of naivety and ignorance.
"The Sandman"
(by Neil Gaiman)
is a disparate but coherent, all-encompassing and almost megalomaniac meta-mythology; it is a tale about the human condition, about destiny, desire, dream, delight/delirium, destruction, despair and death, about heaven and hell, past and present, dreams of the future, living nightmares and landscapes of the soul, of ethereal and eternal realms, of change and of endurance, of power and helplessness, of compassion and cruelty, of youth and old age, of folly and of wisdom, of comic book heroes and villains from myths, and about a Dream that dreams up dreams and moves through dreams, almost dreamlike oblivious about itself.
"Stalin's Spy in Tokyo"
(by Isabel Kreitz)
is an episodic biographical and historical graphic novel about Richard Sorge, a German journalist at the German embassy in Japan during the time the Nazi regime had already gained its utmost power, Germany was officially still an ally of the Soviet Republic but secretly preparing for the larger part of its genocidal war against the Slavic, Russian and Jewish peoples in all of Europe; it is a story told in a naturalistic manner and nuanced in style, personal as well as political, and it shows the complexities of diplomacy and espionage, of personal ambition and international politics, the dilemma of navigating oneself through conscience and convictions, increasing desillusionment and old ideals, loyalties and sympathies, survival instinct and other urges, fears and hopes, regret and resignation, compliance and complicity, opportunity and opposition, about the difficulty of choosing between the lesser of two evils when faced with uncertainty, about the imminent personal danger of doing anything and the ethical and societal danger of doing nothing.
"Town of Evening Calm, Country of Cherry Blossoms"
(by Fumiyo Kōno)
is a beautifully sad story about the last days and hours of Hiroshima before its nuclear holocaust perpetrated by the USA; it is history from the bottom in the best way imaginable.
"Understanding Comics"
(by Scott McCloud)
is a non-fiction comic about comics; it tells the history of comics, it defines comics as an art-form, it showcases the structural elements a comic consists of, their basic narrative functions, it gives examples of their usage, and it gives a brief course in how to read and interpret a comic, as such it is a comprehensive exercise in analysing and synthesizing comics, providing readers with technical terms and tools and easy examples and asking them to delve deeper into the medium and come up with more orderly and rational explanations of their intuitive reading experience as well as a better appreciation of what makes this artform unique and appealing.
"V for Vendetta"
(by Alan Moore)
is one the best revenge tales ever told, one of the most disconcerting dystopias ever put into comicbook form, one of the most engaging tales about manipulation by shock and awe, psychological torture and double-bind, political power by division and terror, the disconcerting appeal and authoritarian rule of fascism that has ever appeared in fiction; it takes the form of a placatively simple one-man-army anti-hero against a fascist state pulp story, but turns it into something more complex, an alternate contemporary history/sci-fi time-line against the backdrop of real-life political developments current at the time of its conception/publication: Reagonomics, Thatcherism, anti-union policies, economic recession, political unrest, international terrorism, the Cold War, threat of nuclear holocaust, the rise of British nationalism and fascist parties.
"Violent Cases"
(by Neil Gaiman)
is a tall tale about a small person, a story about stories we tell ourselves and stories we tell others, and about how the line between them can blur; it is a surreal and fragmented, detailed and vague, almost nightmarish story about innocence lost, about horrific birthday parties and gleeful executions, about awesome and awful father figures, about inhibition and prohibition, about gangsters, starry nights and evil magicians, about storytelling itself.
"Watchmen"
(by Alan Moore)
is a deconstruction of larger-than-life, super-powered comic-book heroes, their reactionary policies, and also of the paradigm of cold war game theory, which is not only the political backdrop to Watchmen's story-line but also a crucial plot element; it is also a cynical parable on the political U. S. doctrine of acting as a world police, and at the same time it is a meta-story about plotting a narrative - and a self-aware meta-comment on the artform of (not only superhero) comics at large, with a lot of (arche-)typical parallels in structure and style.
Wow I thought Sandman would definitely be in top 3, and it not even on the list? H O W???
I’m about to start some trouble in the group haha. Where’s all the Marvel love?! I’m pretty biased and all about that Xmen - X-Force.
This might be a tough question to answer but do you have any comic recommendation to read that’ll hook someone that maybe isn’t in a good head space?
"Alpha" by Jens Harder.
"Blankets" by Craig Thompson.
"Fun Home" by Alison Bechdel.
"Ghost World" by Daniel Clowes.
"Jimmy Corrigan" by Chris Ware.
"Julius Corentin Acquefacques" by Marc-Antoine Mathieu.
"Persepolis" by Marjane Satrapi.
"The Sandman" by Neil Gaiman.
"Understanding Comics" by Scott McCloud.
"Violent Cases" by Neil Gaiman.
Locke and Key is my all-time favorite, also love Y, Ex Machina, and although it's not done, East of West is one of my favorites.
Batman: Year One should also be on this list
What a classic
Where is Punisher MAX?All people who read it say it's one of the best comic books ever
It is very good. Missed when even marvel had dark stories. Now lots of stories are filled with political crap.
Alternative and eclectic list
Animal Man (Grant Morrison)
Miracleman (Alan Moore)
Calvin & Hobbes (Bill Watterson)
Chicken with plums (Marjane Satrapi)
I killed Adolf Hitler (Jason)
X-Men/Uncanny X-Men (Claremont, Cockrum & Byrne)
Sandman (Neil Gaiman)
Silver Surfer (Slott & Allred)
X-Factor (Peter David)
Blueberry (Charlier & Giraud)
Lotsa
Just read locke and key and the comic is 10 times better then the TV show , currently reading umbrella academy I think next I'm going to read the boys.
I'm finishing up the Miller Daredevil run now and I must say, it is an amazing run. I think the companion omnibus has the more iconic stories but both are great.
Agree, companion omnibus has outstanding stories, Miller and co. at their best. But, those same "companion" stories are incredibly heightned but the backstory provided for by the 100+ or so issues that came before it. Both omnis complement each other. And let's not forget about the Elektra short stories that were spawned during that time.
Damn, those were good times to be reading comics.
Born Again is one of the best arcs in comics of all time easily
I'm Mike S. Miller, artist for DC's Injustice: Gods Among Us, and cover artist for Game of Thrones. I have two channels, this one, 'Blacklist Universe', and an all-art channel, 'Mike Draws Comics'. Please check them out!
you left the maus by art spiegleman
Mark Millars Old Man Logan
So many great visual novels and people still consume DC and Marvel. (Maybe add superhero to the title so people know what they're gonna get)
If you wanna go beyond superheroes and big companies:
"Alpha"
by Jens Harder:
A science comic on the evolution of the universe up to the first humans; also drawing a lot of inspiration from human art, cultures and myths when it comes to the illustrations.
"Berlin"
by Jason Lutes:
Historical fiction but very well researched; a story of life in the German capital city between the world wars, the social disparity, the political conflicts, the cosmopolitan culture of art and clubbing on the one hand, the sheer poverty and struggle for survival on the other hand, and the creepy, crawlingly closing down on itself of a society torn between political extremes.
"Blankets"
by Craig Thompson:
Autobiographically honest, emotionally intense, bleak and romantic at the same time, stylistically between stark naturalism and surrealist metaphors of the protagonist's emotional state: A coming of age story about religious emotional abuse, a sexual and romantic awakening, and emancipation by art.
"Fun Home"
by Alison Bechdel:
Tragedy meets comedy, precise observation meets dry wit and self-aware commentary, sarcasm is outweighed by love: A bittersweet coming of age story about family secrets and finding (self-) acceptance and redemption through art.
"Ghost World"
by Daniel Clowes:
All the awkwardness, cringe, dorkiness, estrangement and weltschmerz of puberty - packed into small episodes, moods, vignettes; slices of life about feeling out of place, out of time, out of synch with the world.
"It Was the War of the Trenches"
by Jacques Tardi:
One of the most accurate depictions of the first World War in fiction; stories about the everyday life of trench warfare and the arbitrariness of death from the soldiers' perspective.
"Jimmy Corrigan"
by Chris Ware:
The Great American Novel in comic book form, nothing more and nothing less; told through stream of consciousness narration or by postcard views, mostly in tiny stamp-sized panels, but including great visions of the world; a story about Americana, the Columbian world exhibition, today's urban sprawl, personal memories across generations, historic visions of a future long gone ... about modernity, its dreams and nightmares.
"Julius Corentin Acquefacques"
by Marc-Antoine Mathieu:
Experimental, surrealist, kafkaesque, trippy and unique; a daring exploration of the artform, visual storytelling that defies words and strict linear logic, and which is to comics what an abstract silent black & white film is to movies: its concentrated essence, bound to make you wonder.
"Maus"
by Art Spiegelman:
A haunting and humane re-telling of the holocaust as a family history - but more than just that; a complex story of death and survival, of intergenerational trauma, of family ties, of estrangement and closeness, the lasting emotional and psychological impact on survivors' family relations and worldviews.
"Persepolis"
by Marjane Satrapi:
A story of a childhood in pre- & post-revolutionary Iran, a youth as a refugee in Austria, and an adolescence in France; told in bold and stark, high contrast, black and white imagery - through distant and present memories, of family tales, of personal experience and of collective history, of hopes and dreams, of fears and of losses, of alienation, loneliness, depression and death, but also of finding hope in art and expression, in family heritage, in creative freedom, and in an open if not always welcoming society.
"Stalin's Spy in Tokyo"
by Isabel Kreitz:
A historical graphic novel and part-time biography of Richard Sorge, a German journalist at the German embassy in Japan during the time the Nazi regime had already gained its utmost power, when Germany was officially still an ally of the Soviet Republic but already secretly preparing for the larger part of its genocidal war against the Slavic, Russian and Jewish peoples in all of Europe; it is naturalistic and nuanced in style, personal as well as political, and it shows the complexities of diplomacy and espionage, of personal ambition and international politics, the dilemma of having to choose the least of various evils whilst faced with political uncertainty and personal danger.
"Town of Evening Calm, Country of Cherry Blossoms"
by Fumiyo Kōno:
A beautifully sad story about a simple life in Hiroshima at the eve of its nuclear holocaust perpetrated by the USA; a tale of history from the bottom in the best way imaginable.
"Understanding Comics"
by Scott McCloud:
A non-fiction comic about comics, their history, their specific features as an art-form, their structural elements with their respective narrative functions, examples of their usage, and a brief course in how to read and interpret a comic; a great tool for analyzing comics, providing readers with technical terms and inviting them to delve deeper into the medium and by understanding its specifics and narrative techniques come to a new appreciation of what makes this artform unique and appealing.
"Violent Cases"
by Neil Gaiman:
A tall tale about a small person, a story about stories we tell ourselves and stories we tell others, and about how the line between them can blur; it is a surreal and fragmented, detailed and vague, almost nightmarish story about innocence lost, about horrific birthday parties and gleeful executions, about awesome and awful father figures, about inhibition and prohibition, about gangsters, starry nights and evil magicians, about storytelling itself.
Other than big studio comics, top ten comics from small studios
Not from the market leaders:
"Alpha"
by Jens Harder:
A science comic on the evolution of the universe up to the first humans; also drawing a lot of inspiration from human art, cultures and myths when it comes to the illustrations.
"Berlin"
by Jason Lutes:
Historical fiction but very well researched; a story of life in the German capital city between the world wars, the social disparity, the political conflicts, the cosmopolitan culture of art and clubbing on the one hand, the sheer poverty and struggle for survival on the other hand, and the creepy, crawlingly closing down on itself of a society torn between political extremes.
"Blankets"
by Craig Thompson:
Autobiographically honest, emotionally intense, bleak and romantic at the same time, stylistically between stark naturalism and surrealist metaphors of the protagonist's emotional state: A coming of age story about religious emotional abuse, a sexual and romantic awakening, and emancipation by art.
"Fun Home"
by Alison Bechdel:
Tragedy meets comedy, precise observation meets dry wit and self-aware commentary, sarcasm is outweighed by love: A bittersweet coming of age story about family secrets and finding (self-) acceptance and redemption through art.
"Ghost World"
by Daniel Clowes:
All the awkwardness, cringe, dorkiness, estrangement and weltschmerz of puberty - packed into small episodes, moods, vignettes; slices of life about feeling out of place, out of time, out of synch with the world.
"It Was the War of the Trenches"
by Jacques Tardi:
One of the most accurate depictions of the first World War in fiction; stories about the everyday life of trench warfare and the arbitrariness of death from the soldiers' perspective.
"Jimmy Corrigan"
by Chris Ware:
The Great American Novel in comic book form, nothing more and nothing less; told through stream of consciousness narration or by postcard views, mostly in tiny stamp-sized panels, but including great visions of the world; a story about Americana, the Columbian world exhibition, today's urban sprawl, personal memories across generations, historic visions of a future long gone ... about modernity, its dreams and nightmares.
"Julius Corentin Acquefacques"
by Marc-Antoine Mathieu:
Experimental, surrealist, kafkaesque, trippy and unique; a daring exploration of the artform, visual storytelling that defies words and strict linear logic, and which is to comics what an abstract silent black & white film is to movies: its concentrated essence, bound to make you wonder.
"Maus"
by Art Spiegelman:
A haunting and humane re-telling of the holocaust as a family history - but more than just that; a complex story of death and survival, of intergenerational trauma, of family ties, of estrangement and closeness, the lasting emotional and psychological impact on survivors' family relations and worldviews.
"Persepolis"
by Marjane Satrapi:
A story of a childhood in pre- & post-revolutionary Iran, a youth as a refugee in Austria, and an adolescence in France; told in bold and stark, high contrast, black and white imagery - through distant and present memories, of family tales, of personal experience and of collective history, of hopes and dreams, of fears and of losses, of alienation, loneliness, depression and death, but also of finding hope in art and expression, in family heritage, in creative freedom, and in an open if not always welcoming society.
"Stalin's Spy in Tokyo"
by Isabel Kreitz:
A historical graphic novel and part-time biography of Richard Sorge, a German journalist at the German embassy in Japan during the time the Nazi regime had already gained its utmost power, when Germany was officially still an ally of the Soviet Republic but already secretly preparing for the larger part of its genocidal war against the Slavic, Russian and Jewish peoples in all of Europe; it is naturalistic and nuanced in style, personal as well as political, and it shows the complexities of diplomacy and espionage, of personal ambition and international politics, the dilemma of having to choose the least of various evils whilst faced with political uncertainty and personal danger.
"Town of Evening Calm, Country of Cherry Blossoms"
by Fumiyo Kōno:
A beautifully sad story about a simple life in Hiroshima at the eve of its nuclear holocaust perpetrated by the USA; a tale of history from the bottom in the best way imaginable.
"Understanding Comics"
by Scott McCloud:
A non-fiction comic about comics, their history, their specific features as an art-form, their structural elements with their respective narrative functions, examples of their usage, and a brief course in how to read and interpret a comic; a great tool for analyzing comics, providing readers with technical terms and inviting them to delve deeper into the medium and by understanding its specifics and narrative techniques come to a new appreciation of what makes this artform unique and appealing.
"Violent Cases"
by Neil Gaiman:
A tall tale about a small person, a story about stories we tell ourselves and stories we tell others, and about how the line between them can blur; it is a surreal and fragmented, detailed and vague, almost nightmarish story about innocence lost, about horrific birthday parties and gleeful executions, about awesome and awful father figures, about inhibition and prohibition, about gangsters, starry nights and evil magicians, about storytelling itself.
I can see why all this comics made a Top Ten list like this but it sure seems like people only think Marvel and DC make comics.
That being said, Don Rosa’s Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck absolutely needs to be on a list like this.
Also Batman: No Man’s Land is head and shoulders above Court of Owls and definitely deserves to be on this list instead.
Y: The Last Man, the original Sandman run and Fables all from DC’s Vertigo line deserve some love here as well.
I could go on but we only have ten spots and a lot of the comics listed here deserve a spot there as well lol.
My personal top 17 in alphabetical order:
"Alpha"
by Jens Harder:
A science comic on the evolution of the universe up to the first humans; also drawing a lot of inspiration from human art, cultures and myths when it comes to the illustrations.
"Batman: The Long Halloween"
by Jeph Loeb:
One of the more down to earth Batman comics, a true detective comic; with finest narration and clearest illustrations it is suitable for beginners and casual readers as well as afficinados and connoisseurs.
"Berlin"
by Jason Lutes:
Historical fiction but very well researched; a story of life in the German capital city between the world wars, the social disparity, the political conflicts, the cosmopolitan culture of art and clubbing on the one hand, the sheer poverty and struggle for survival on the other hand, and the creepy, crawlingly closing down on itself of a society torn between political extremes.
"Blankets"
by Craig Thompson:
Autobiographically honest, emotionally intense, bleak and romantic at the same time, stylistically between stark naturalism and surrealist metaphors of the protagonist's emotional state: A coming of age story about religious emotional abuse, a sexual and romantic awakening, and emancipation by art.
"Fun Home"
by Alison Bechdel:
Tragedy meets comedy, precise observation meets dry wit and self-aware commentary, sarcasm is outweighed by love: A bittersweet coming of age story about family secrets and finding (self-) acceptance and redemption through art.
"Ghost World"
by Daniel Clowes:
All the awkwardness, cringe, dorkiness, estrangement and weltschmerz of puberty - packed into small episodes, moods, vignettes; slices of life about feeling out of place, out of time, out of synch with the world.
"Jimmy Corrigan"
by Chris Ware:
The Great American Novel in comic book form, nothing more and nothing less; told through stream of consciousness narration or by postcard views, mostly in tiny stamp-sized panels, but including great visions of the world; a story about Americana, the Columbian world exhibition, today's urban sprawl, personal memories across generations, historic visions of a future long gone ... about modernity, its dreams and nightmares.
"Julius Corentin Acquefacques"
by Marc-Antoine Mathieu:
Experimental, surrealist, kafkaesque, trippy and unique; a daring exploration of the artform, visual storytelling that defies words and strict linear logic, and which is to comics what an abstract silent black & white film is to movies: its concentrated essence, bound to make you wonder.
"Maus"
by Art Spiegelman:
A haunting and humane re-telling of the holocaust as a family history - but more than just that; a complex story of death and survival, of intergenerational trauma, of family ties, of estrangement and closeness, the lasting emotional and psychological impact on survivors' family relations and worldviews.
"Persepolis"
by Marjane Satrapi:
A story of a childhood in pre- & post-revolutionary Iran, a youth as a refugee in Austria, and an adolescence in France; told in bold and stark, high contrast, black and white imagery - through distant and present memories, of family tales, of personal experience and of collective history, of hopes and dreams, of fears and of losses, of alienation, loneliness, depression and death, but also of finding hope in art and expression, in family heritage, in creative freedom, and in an open if not always welcoming society.
"The Sandman"
by Neil Gaiman:
An all-encompassing meta-mythology, drawing from literature, ancient myths, medieval history, modern pop culture; it is a tale about the human condition, about destiny, desire, dream, delight/delirium, destruction, despair and death - also about heaven and hell, past and present, dreams of the future, living nightmares and landscapes of the soul, of ethereal and eternal realms, of change and of endurance, of power and helplessness, compassion and cruelty, youth and old age, folly and wisdom, comic book heroes and villains, real life people, and about a Dream that dreams up dreams and moves through dreams but is almost dreamlike oblivious about itself.
"Stalin's Spy in Tokyo"
by Isabel Kreitz:
A historical graphic novel and part-time biography of Richard Sorge, a German journalist at the German embassy in Japan during the time the Nazi regime had already gained its utmost power, when Germany was officially still an ally of the Soviet Republic but already secretly preparing for the larger part of its genocidal war against the Slavic, Russian and Jewish peoples in all of Europe; it is naturalistic and nuanced in style, personal as well as political, and it shows the complexities of diplomacy and espionage, of personal ambition and international politics, the dilemma of having to choose the least of various evils whilst faced with political uncertainty and personal danger.
"Town of Evening Calm, Country of Cherry Blossoms"
by Fumiyo Kōno:
A beautifully sad story about a simple life in Hiroshima at the eve of its nuclear holocaust perpetrated by the USA; a tale of history from the bottom in the best way imaginable.
"Understanding Comics"
by Scott McCloud:
A non-fiction comic about comics, their history, their specific features as an art-form, their structural elements with their respective narrative functions, examples of their usage, and a brief course in how to read and interpret a comic; a great tool for analyzing comics, providing readers with technical terms and inviting them to delve deeper into the medium and by understanding its specifics and narrative techniques come to a new appreciation of what makes this artform unique and appealing.
"V for Vendetta"
by Alan Moore:
One of the best revenge tales ever told, one of the most disconcerting dystopias ever put into comicbook form, one of the most engaging tales about manipulation by shock and awe, psychological torture and double-bind, political power by division and terror, the disconcerting appeal and authoritarian rule of fascism that has ever appeared in fiction; it takes the form of a placatively simple one-man-army anti-hero against a fascist state pulp story, but turns it into something more complex, an alternate contemporary history/sci-fi time-line against the backdrop of real-life political developments from the early 1980s.
"Violent Cases"
by Neil Gaiman:
A tall tale about a small person, a story about stories we tell ourselves and stories we tell others, and about how the line between them can blur; it is a surreal and fragmented, detailed and vague, almost nightmarish story about innocence lost, about horrific birthday parties and gleeful executions, about awesome and awful father figures, about inhibition and prohibition, about gangsters, starry nights and evil magicians, about storytelling itself.
"Watchmen"
by Alan Moore:
A deconstruction of super-powered comic-book hero mythology, of the paradigm of cold war game theory, of the narrative structures of comic books as an artform; also a cynical parable/satire on the U. S. political doctrine of acting as a world police - and also packed with loads of clockwork symbolism.
I'm kind of disappointed that all the comics are from DC or Marvel. I would of liked to see some Image or Dark Horse titles. I would argue stuff like Locke and Key should be on this list. Or even Invincible. How about it Gem? Make a list of must read books that are not from the big 2.
"Alpha"
by Jens Harder.
"Berlin"
by Jason Lutes.
"Blankets"
by Craig Thompson.
"Fun Home"
by Alison Bechdel.
"Ghost World"
by Daniel Clowes.
"It Was the War of the Trenches"
by Jacques Tardi.
"Jimmy Corrigan: The Smartest Kid on Earth"
by Chris Ware.
"Julius Corentin Acquefacques"
by Marc-Antoine Mathieu.
"Maus"
by Art Spiegelman.
"Persepolis"
by Marjane Satrapi.
"Stalin's Spy in Tokyo"
by Isabel Kreitz.
"Town of Evening Calm, Country of Cherry Blossoms"
by Fumiyo Kōno.
"Understanding Comics"
by Scott McCloud.
"Violent Cases"
by Neil Gaiman.
My hot take: Dark Knight Returns has not aged well and Batman: Year One is actually a superior series - better writing and much better art.
I don't think it's a hot take. Lots of people would agree with you. I'm one of them, although I'm going to say that Miller's Born Again is better than DKR and Year One (albeit less influential) :)
@@davelisapaly6750 I agree. Born Again was peak Frank Miller and peak Mazzucchelli
Was hoping more Garth ennis books would’ve made the top 10 like the boys and punisher max, glad at least preacher made the list
Definitely. Have you read Nick Fury: My Wars Gone By? Wow. I thought i was even better than his Punisher run.
Saga gotta be my number 1 but since it's still on going that could change. Also sandman easily in my top ten.
Sooooo many Batman books on this list! :O
No 'House of M'? 'Avengers VS X-Men'? 'Messiah Complex'? 'Original Sin'? 'Fear Itself'? Jonathan Hickman's run on Fantastic Four?
Hit Like button!!! :D
Kingdom come by ALEX ROSS
F MARK waid
Ok so I haven’t read too much yet but this is my opinions so far: DC comics > Marvel comics
read invincible
Sandman: So you choose...death!
Sandman or a newer one like saga that is amazing btw, something less heroic, dont get me wrong i love superheros but theres is much more out there, it is a good list though
Technically, "The Sandman" includes superheroes in its reality and the Endless are a sort of superbeings themselves.
13 x non-superhero greatness:
"Alpha"
by Jens Harder:
A science comic on the evolution of the universe up to the first humans; also drawing a lot of inspiration from human art, cultures and myths when it comes to the illustrations.
"Berlin"
by Jason Lutes:
Historical fiction but very well researched; a story of life in the German capital city between the world wars, the social disparity, the political conflicts, the cosmopolitan culture of art and clubbing on the one hand, the sheer poverty and struggle for survival on the other hand, and the creepy, crawlingly closing down on itself of a society torn between political extremes.
"Blankets"
by Craig Thompson:
Autobiographically honest, emotionally intense, bleak and romantic at the same time, stylistically between stark naturalism and surrealist metaphors of the protagonist's emotional state: A coming of age story about religious emotional abuse, a sexual and romantic awakening, and emancipation by art.
"Fun Home"
by Alison Bechdel:
Tragedy meets comedy, precise observation meets dry wit and self-aware commentary, sarcasm is outweighed by love: A bittersweet coming of age story about family secrets and finding (self-) acceptance and redemption through art.
"Ghost World"
by Daniel Clowes:
All the awkwardness, cringe, dorkiness, estrangement and weltschmerz of puberty - packed into small episodes, moods, vignettes; slices of life about feeling out of place, out of time, out of synch with the world.
"Jimmy Corrigan"
by Chris Ware:
The Great American Novel in comic book form, nothing more and nothing less; told through stream of consciousness narration or by postcard views, mostly in tiny stamp-sized panels, but including great visions of the world; a story about Americana, the Columbian world exhibition, today's urban sprawl, personal memories across generations, historic visions of a future long gone ... about modernity, its dreams and nightmares.
"Julius Corentin Acquefacques"
by Marc-Antoine Mathieu:
Experimental, surrealist, kafkaesque, trippy and unique; a daring exploration of the artform, visual storytelling that defies words and strict linear logic, and which is to comics what an abstract silent black & white film is to movies: its concentrated essence, bound to make you wonder.
"Maus"
by Art Spiegelman:
A haunting and humane re-telling of the holocaust as a family history - but more than just that; a complex story of death and survival, of intergenerational trauma, of family ties, of estrangement and closeness, the lasting emotional and psychological impact on survivors' family relations and worldviews.
"Persepolis"
by Marjane Satrapi:
A story of a childhood in pre- & post-revolutionary Iran, a youth as a refugee in Austria, and an adolescence in France; told in bold and stark, high contrast, black and white imagery - through distant and present memories, of family tales, of personal experience and of collective history, of hopes and dreams, of fears and of losses, of alienation, loneliness, depression and death, but also of finding hope in art and expression, in family heritage, in creative freedom, and in an open if not always welcoming society.
"Stalin's Spy in Tokyo"
by Isabel Kreitz:
A historical graphic novel and part-time biography of Richard Sorge, a German journalist at the German embassy in Japan during the time the Nazi regime had already gained its utmost power, when Germany was officially still an ally of the Soviet Republic but already secretly preparing for the larger part of its genocidal war against the Slavic, Russian and Jewish peoples in all of Europe; it is naturalistic and nuanced in style, personal as well as political, and it shows the complexities of diplomacy and espionage, of personal ambition and international politics, the dilemma of having to choose the least of various evils whilst faced with political uncertainty and personal danger.
"Town of Evening Calm, Country of Cherry Blossoms"
by Fumiyo Kōno:
A beautifully sad story about a simple life in Hiroshima at the eve of its nuclear holocaust perpetrated by the USA; a tale of history from the bottom in the best way imaginable.
"Understanding Comics"
by Scott McCloud:
A non-fiction comic about comics, their history, their specific features as an art-form, their structural elements with their respective narrative functions, examples of their usage, and a brief course in how to read and interpret a comic; a great tool for analyzing comics, providing readers with technical terms and inviting them to delve deeper into the medium and by understanding its specifics and narrative techniques come to a new appreciation of what makes this artform unique and appealing.
"Violent Cases"
by Neil Gaiman:
A tall tale about a small person, a story about stories we tell ourselves and stories we tell others, and about how the line between them can blur; it is a surreal and fragmented, detailed and vague, almost nightmarish story about innocence lost, about horrific birthday parties and gleeful executions, about awesome and awful father figures, about inhibition and prohibition, about gangsters, starry nights and evil magicians, about storytelling itself.
My #1 is "Batman: Year One." I love how undeveloped Batman is and how it's not "I can fix that because I'm Batman." My second favorite would probably be "Superman For All Seasons." It's a great coming of age story.
really? for me i went in with high hope but i hated your one
These are GOATED choices, but I would also add All Star Superman. That is a masterpiece, my favourite Superman story and the best imo
No complaints here! I would have loved to see Batman: Hush, Promethea and Sin City on the list but amazing reads.
Do a top 10 Marvel, DC and creator owned lists separate next time! Would be interested to see those.
I'm a Marvel zombie, but I gotta admit DC has some amazing runs out there. It's definitely easier to recommend collected editions for DC stuff over Marvel. Maybe Marvel needs to just let creators create and stop worrying about continuity all the time (don't get me wrong, I love the continuity too). Black Label is the perfect current example of how DC does it right in that regard.
Things that should have made the list: Y the Last Man (and anything by BKV really), Uncanny Xforce, Xmen stuff (dark Phoenix saga, astonishing xmen, Grant Morrison, etc!), All-Star Superman, and so many more.
I would rather say watch the directors or the ultimate cut of Watchmen
New X-Men by Grant Morrison deserves a spot in the top 10.
"Bout to end this whole man's career" *Where is Saga* c'mon bro.
See my comment on 'Out of sight, Out of Mind' Saga hasn't been published for a year and a half.
It seems that popular books at Image tend to be forgotten after they are finished (TWD, Invincible, Saga, Papergirls, I Hate Fairyland).
Gotta wait for them to finish the run
@@spencerwelchii573 I wish the prices on the keys for those books reflect what you said, but that's not the case. I do agree with your statement, but I think most ppl just go for the bigger names. Theres obviously a bizzilion #10 best book videos out there, yet I feel the gem mints picks were pretty linear and lacked variety ie genre/publishers
@@solehead90 almost everyone in the group that participated in this poll are like minded. Nothing wrong with that, but I constantly see the same runs being discussed or recommended
Man I really thought All Star Superman would make the list
me too
Some of the books you mention, I haven't read and don't feel qualified to comment on. However I do have a few observations.
Watchmen and Miller's Daredevil should both be on anyone's top ten list. One thing about Watchmen: The characters are based on the Charlton heroes from the '60s. Moore wanted to use the Charlton heroes to tell the story. DC nixed that as they had other plans for those characters.
Re: MIller's Dark Knight What he did with Batman was good. What he did with Superman was not.
Re: Kingdom Come. I agree with you about Alex Ross's artwork.The message of the story, however, boils down to this; Captain Marvel died for our sins. I find that offensive.
Finally you did not mention Neil Gaiman's Sandman. Best comic book series ever!
I’d have put in
All Star Superman by grant Morrison
If it’s collected Alan Moor run on Superman whatever happened to the man of tomorrow with For the man who has everything
Literally finished Watchmen 15 minutes ago and came here looking for my next read! Not surprised it's number 2, I thought it was amazing
“Rorschach’s journal, October 12th 1985” The line that started it all for me
V for Vendetta is a great read.
People love Marvel stories
And at #1, Ghost World!