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
#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. }]
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.
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
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.
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
"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. :)
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 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 :)
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.
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'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.
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.
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.
I like the picks on here. I would love to see you do more of these, maybe a top 10 underrated stories list or stuff that maybe alot of people don't know about, stories from the 80's, 90's etc
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.
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.
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!😁
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
The shazam panel where he strikes down superman over and over with lightning was crazy!!! I've read all these except for court of owls. Just picked up doomsday clock TPB
Bravo, Gem Mint! So once again, this is an example of an episode which demonstrates why you have the best youtube channel in the field of comics/statues/pop culture. You have an uncanny (pardon the x-men pun) way of delivering your message succinctly and clearly (e.g., your perfect synopsis of Watchmen, Dark Knight Returns, Geoff Johns' Green Lantern, etc), and you don't pull punches if you feel the need to offer constructive criticism. Case in point - you were surprised that Killing Joke was #1. Both Alan Moore and people like myself think its a bit over-rated. When Alan did interviews about this he felt this was really just another Batman story - agreed, being written by Alan it was going to be better than the average Batman story - but ultimately he felt it was "just another Batman story" and DC, wanting to capitalize on his name, pushed it out there as a "graphic novel" which Alan did not like. However, with that being said, your Facebook Group certainly caught onto the genius of Alan Moore when they listed Killing Joke as first - for one thing, Alan delved into the psyche of the Joker and basically suggests the evil/wicked people are not born wicked - things happen to them. I went to Tanzania in 2018 to help women struggling with cervical cancer and was disappointed at some of the apathy shown by some of the men - but one of my mentors, Dr Groesbeck Parham, opened my eyes to understand that I should not be so hard on the men, b/c they are not born with apathy... things happen in a life, that is oftentimes hard. But I digress... the other thing about the Killing Joke that really resonates is the ending when Joker tells the joke about the light beam - that has 2 amazing connotations b/c it basically indicates that BOTH Batman and Joker are crazy (one for suggesting to the other to walk on the flashlight beam and the other for saying "no you'll turn it off when I'm half-way across!") and secondly, b/c in the spirit of Alan's storytelling you're. left wondering if Batman breaks Joker's neck and kills him in the second to last panels before everything goes black - really, it's a genius mind at work and why I consider Alan the best writer of our generation - as an example, Bob Dylan may be the songwriter of our generation and Michael Jordan the MBA player of our generation - Alan is the writer of our generation and that includes writers of novels as well - as you probably know, Time Magazine listed Watchmnen among the 100 greatest novels of the 20th Century which included some of my favorite writers such as Hemingway (For Whom the Bell Tolls (great Metallica song!) and A Farewell to Arms),, Steinbeck (Grapes of Wrath, Of Mice and Men, and Cannery Row), and Gabriel Garcia Marquez (100 Years for Solitude and Love in the Time of Cholera). Also want to shout-out to your Facebook Group for being diversified enough to include great works from the 1980s and also modern runs - that's really cool. If you take a 55 year old like me, my top 20 would have been: 1. Watchmen; 2. Dark Knight Returns; 3. Planetary; 4. Alan Moore's Swamp Thing; 5. Miller's Daredevil (including his main run with Elektra/Bullseye/Kingpin, Born Again, Electra Assassin Limited Series, Daredevil Love & Death Graphic Novel, and Elektra Lives Again; 6. The Mignolaverse (Hellboy/BPRD); 7. Kingdom Come; 8. Darwyn Cooke's New Frontier; 9. Claremont/Cockrum then Claremont/Byrne Austin's Uncanny X-Men run (Giant Size X-Men #1 (written by Len Wein), #94-143); 10. Levitz/Giffen/Mahlsted's Great Darkness Saga (Legion of Super-Heroes); 11. Grasscutter storyline from Usage Yojimbo; 12. Jim Starlin's Warlock; 13. Planetary (Ellis/Cassaday); 14. Palomar (ran in Love & Rockets by Gilbert Hernandez); 15. Matt Wagner's Grendel; 16. Stan Lee/Steve Ditko's Spiderman run; 17. Stan Lee/Jack Kirby's Fantastic Four run; 18. Neil Gaiman's Sandman; 19. Jim Shooter/Curt Swan's Legion of Super-Heroes run in Adventure Comics during the 1960s; 20. Conan by Roy Thomas/Barry Windsor-Smith. Wow, Gem! I'm so sorry - I just saw this post of mine is so long - I know you don't have time to read all this so next time I'll try not to be so verbose, but thank you again for your deep insight into the comics that resonate so deeply among us all!
I just got into the train of collecting with you guys and I gotta say that it is a great channel, the fact that I’ve been able to speak with you through Instagram DM is pretty dope man thanks. Concerning the video, I am relieved that I have a lot of comics from the top 10 of this video, now I’m tryna collecting it in omnibus format, let’s get it
@@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.
As someone who is more than a casual but not as hardcore as most with comics I find it kinda hard to find new stuff to read so these kinda videos always help but yours are my go to. Thanks for the help Gem 🤙🏼
@@Supreme_Bargainerwhile I can seee your opinion I think Dc does comics better thanks to the many graphic novels like ‘Dark Knight Returns’ ‘Superman Legacy’ and many other comics have in my opinion really touched me in a emotional spot unlike marvel stories
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.
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 just found out about your channel and I subscribed. I definitely agree with a few on that list but I was really surprised that there wearing any Wolverine titles on there. A few of my favorite Wolverine titles are Wolverine origins issues number 1 through number 50 and the follow up line Wolverine goes to Hell. I also love The uncanny X-Force line that first started in 2011 I think, and that book started the same time as Wolverine goes to Hell. I have been a fan of Comics since the age of 10. I knew about all of the different Comic Book characters but I didn't become a Full Fledged Comic Book Fan until 1990 when Marvel released the Trading Card series. I would spend every penny I had from my allowance to collect the whole set! Back then the cards ran 50 cents a pack. I actually still have some of those cards along with others from the sets that would be released in the subsequent years. In ending, I'll say that I enjoy your content, keep up the good work man.
Im so envious of that bookshelf full of Marvel omnibuses! Wow! Are those part of a store or your own personal collection? I only own a few of those - Captain America and Punisher omnibuses.
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.
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.
Preacher is my #1 title,it's love/hate relationship with religion and it's ideologies along with the heartwarming story of love and friendship with a really great ending all covered in a bombastic Garth ennis package.Man I love that series,it was the first indie title I loved
To echo Broken1394 (below) : Fantastic Four 48-50 - Galactus trilogy and the intro of The Silver Surfer. Pinnacle Kirby and Lee imo. I guess most of the fans watching this channel just don't read stories that far back. Hey Gem, maybe do a top 20 comic stories sometime?
Killing joke is amazing. Same with dark knight returns and watchmen. One of my favourite books which didn't show up here was foolkiller MAX fools paradise. Damn, that book was so well written. Same case with batman damned and joker killer smile which are a little more recent but still of an excellent quality. Solid vid gem mint
Pretty sold list. Lots of other great stories out there but your list is solid. I’ve definitely been more of a marvel fan since the 80’s but The Long Halloween and the TDKR’s were icon to me as a kid and are my top two stories all time. Frank Millers Daredevil and his Wolverine mini series were also fantastic.
"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.
Way late to the party lol, but these are great books...been going through a lot of your older videos checking them out, looking for stuff I'm unaware of...
Enjoyed the video. Thanks for making it. I would put Grant Morrison's X-Men. I really enjoyed that series. I was reading it during a time while raising my baby girl. Lots of good memories. Now she is buying her own comics to read.
Awesome video! GReat for people with limited funds - looking to break in on the best stories to read with limited time/money. I've read some of those but I think I'd have included Batman Hush and X-Men Days of Future Past somewhere. Great reminder of some of the absolute class that's out there in comic-book format and interesting to see the inspiration some films have taken from those stories.
Kingdom Come was definitely meant to be a commentary on the "Grim and Gritty" heroes that were popular during the 90's. I'm sure I read a statement by Mark Waid something like, "We used to make jokes about what might happen if the Image Universe ( Spawn, Wildcats, Youngblood, etc) invaded the DC Universe."
I've only just started Batman the black mirror, my first DC comic in over 50 yrs, but have my vol 2 of Future Quest presents vol 2 (with Sapce Ghost) waiting at the book store...stay minty!
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.
I don’t have any issues with your list. I think I have 9 out of the 10 you talked about. Other runs I enjoyed that I would say could possibly be in my top 10 are Black Hammer, Gotham Central, and possibly Kill or Be Killed. Great video!
Black Hammer will def be on lists like this years down the road when its all said and done. If you are into black hammer i hope your reading skulldigger and skeleton boy so far, its really good. Lemire is my favorite writer currently for sure
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!😁
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 top 10 (so far, no specific order) - Watchmen - Maus - Persepolis - the Art of Flying - Wrinkles - Infinity Gauntlet - Deathnote (series) - Sandman (series) - Batman: Year One - Walking Dead (series)
My top 17 so far - 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.
Green Lantern Vol 1 was my first omni ever and I got it thanks to this channel. I've so far made it through vol 1+2 and Brightest day w/ Tie-ins and I loved them. Totally agree they are must reads. Court of Owls was amazing the story that got me into comics. Batman: Year One - I was shocked didn't make the cut.
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.
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
#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
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
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.
@@35clips 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.
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
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
"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. :)
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 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 :)
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…
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 :)
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
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.
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
What about “V For Vendetta” or Batman’s “The Cult”?
I like the picks on here. I would love to see you do more of these, maybe a top 10 underrated stories list or stuff that maybe alot of people don't know about, stories from the 80's, 90's etc
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.
I recently read Court of Owls. It’s easily my favorite Batman storyline.
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
I'm really glad Watchmen made the list, was one of my first graphic novels and can recommend it to about any new reader.
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.
“Rorschach’s journal, October 12th 1985” The line that started it all for me
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
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!😁
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
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
The shazam panel where he strikes down superman over and over with lightning was crazy!!!
I've read all these except for court of owls.
Just picked up doomsday clock TPB
Bravo, Gem Mint! So once again, this is an example of an episode which demonstrates why you have the best youtube channel in the field of comics/statues/pop culture. You have an uncanny (pardon the x-men pun) way of delivering your message succinctly and clearly (e.g., your perfect synopsis of Watchmen, Dark Knight Returns, Geoff Johns' Green Lantern, etc), and you don't pull punches if you feel the need to offer constructive criticism. Case in point - you were surprised that Killing Joke was #1. Both Alan Moore and people like myself think its a bit over-rated. When Alan did interviews about this he felt this was really just another Batman story - agreed, being written by Alan it was going to be better than the average Batman story - but ultimately he felt it was "just another Batman story" and DC, wanting to capitalize on his name, pushed it out there as a "graphic novel" which Alan did not like. However, with that being said, your Facebook Group certainly caught onto the genius of Alan Moore when they listed Killing Joke as first - for one thing, Alan delved into the psyche of the Joker and basically suggests the evil/wicked people are not born wicked - things happen to them. I went to Tanzania in 2018 to help women struggling with cervical cancer and was disappointed at some of the apathy shown by some of the men - but one of my mentors, Dr Groesbeck Parham, opened my eyes to understand that I should not be so hard on the men, b/c they are not born with apathy... things happen in a life, that is oftentimes hard. But I digress... the other thing about the Killing Joke that really resonates is the ending when Joker tells the joke about the light beam - that has 2 amazing connotations b/c it basically indicates that BOTH Batman and Joker are crazy (one for suggesting to the other to walk on the flashlight beam and the other for saying "no you'll turn it off when I'm half-way across!") and secondly, b/c in the spirit of Alan's storytelling you're. left wondering if Batman breaks Joker's neck and kills him in the second to last panels before everything goes black - really, it's a genius mind at work and why I consider Alan the best writer of our generation - as an example, Bob Dylan may be the songwriter of our generation and Michael Jordan the MBA player of our generation - Alan is the writer of our generation and that includes writers of novels as well - as you probably know, Time Magazine listed Watchmnen among the 100 greatest novels of the 20th Century which included some of my favorite writers such as Hemingway (For Whom the Bell Tolls (great Metallica song!) and A Farewell to Arms),, Steinbeck (Grapes of Wrath, Of Mice and Men, and Cannery Row), and Gabriel Garcia Marquez (100 Years for Solitude and Love in the Time of Cholera). Also want to shout-out to your Facebook Group for being diversified enough to include great works from the 1980s and also modern runs - that's really cool. If you take a 55 year old like me, my top 20 would have been: 1. Watchmen; 2. Dark Knight Returns; 3. Planetary; 4. Alan Moore's Swamp Thing; 5. Miller's Daredevil (including his main run with Elektra/Bullseye/Kingpin, Born Again, Electra Assassin Limited Series, Daredevil Love & Death Graphic Novel, and Elektra Lives Again; 6. The Mignolaverse (Hellboy/BPRD); 7. Kingdom Come; 8. Darwyn Cooke's New Frontier; 9. Claremont/Cockrum then Claremont/Byrne Austin's Uncanny X-Men run (Giant Size X-Men #1 (written by Len Wein), #94-143); 10. Levitz/Giffen/Mahlsted's Great Darkness Saga (Legion of Super-Heroes); 11. Grasscutter storyline from Usage Yojimbo; 12. Jim Starlin's Warlock; 13. Planetary (Ellis/Cassaday); 14. Palomar (ran in Love & Rockets by Gilbert Hernandez); 15. Matt Wagner's Grendel; 16. Stan Lee/Steve Ditko's Spiderman run; 17. Stan Lee/Jack Kirby's Fantastic Four run; 18. Neil Gaiman's Sandman; 19. Jim Shooter/Curt Swan's Legion of Super-Heroes run in Adventure Comics during the 1960s; 20. Conan by Roy Thomas/Barry Windsor-Smith. Wow, Gem! I'm so sorry - I just saw this post of mine is so long - I know you don't have time to read all this so next time I'll try not to be so verbose, but thank you again for your deep insight into the comics that resonate so deeply among us all!
I don’t know why but this is one of my favorite videos. Keep up the amazing work.
I just got into the train of collecting with you guys and I gotta say that it is a great channel, the fact that I’ve been able to speak with you through Instagram DM is pretty dope man thanks. Concerning the video, I am relieved that I have a lot of comics from the top 10 of this video, now I’m tryna collecting it in omnibus format, let’s get it
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.
Man, you should do more vids like these. Good to know what to look out for
As someone who is more than a casual but not as hardcore as most with comics I find it kinda hard to find new stuff to read so these kinda videos always help but yours are my go to. Thanks for the help Gem 🤙🏼
FF 48-50 - Galactus trilogy.
Pinnacle Kirby and Lee imo.
The Dark Knight Returns was also partially depicted in the beginning The Dark Knight Rises.
Great video. I'd love to see a top 10 non-superhero comics list next! 👍
Agreed with every name here! Only one I have not read is Preacher but I’m waiting for the omnibus. thanks for the video Gem!
Batman: Year One should also be on this list
What a classic
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
@@Supreme_Bargainerwhile I can seee your opinion I think Dc does comics better thanks to the many graphic novels like ‘Dark Knight Returns’ ‘Superman Legacy’ and many other comics have in my opinion really touched me in a emotional spot unlike marvel stories
Frank Miller Dark Knight and Daredevil runs were two of my favorites. I LOVE THE KILLING JOKE! One of the BEST Batman stories ever.
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
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.
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.
Thank you for sharing, keep doing what you do!!!
Kraven's Last Hunt is in my top 10 reads, that i miss
Great video as always, keep up the great work
Great video as always. I was kinda hoping Old Man Logan would have made the list, but still a great list.
I just found out about your channel and I subscribed. I definitely agree with a few on that list but I was really surprised that there wearing any Wolverine titles on there. A few of my favorite Wolverine titles are Wolverine origins issues number 1 through number 50 and the follow up line Wolverine goes to Hell. I also love The uncanny X-Force line that first started in 2011 I think, and that book started the same time as Wolverine goes to Hell. I have been a fan of Comics since the age of 10. I knew about all of the different Comic Book characters but I didn't become a Full Fledged Comic Book Fan until 1990 when Marvel released the Trading Card series. I would spend every penny I had from my allowance to collect the whole set! Back then the cards ran 50 cents a pack. I actually still have some of those cards along with others from the sets that would be released in the subsequent years.
In ending, I'll say that I enjoy your content, keep up the good work man.
That background, that chair would be one of the best saturday nights with a reading buddy and some wine or beer.
Im so envious of that bookshelf full of Marvel omnibuses! Wow! Are those part of a store or your own personal collection? I only own a few of those - Captain America and Punisher omnibuses.
Smashed that like before the intro was over!
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.
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.
Preacher is my #1 title,it's love/hate relationship with religion and it's ideologies along with the heartwarming story of love and friendship with a really great ending all covered in a bombastic Garth ennis package.Man I love that series,it was the first indie title I loved
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
To echo Broken1394 (below) : Fantastic Four 48-50 - Galactus trilogy and the intro of The Silver Surfer.
Pinnacle Kirby and Lee imo. I guess most of the fans watching this channel just don't read stories that far back. Hey Gem, maybe do a top 20 comic stories sometime?
Cool series! Keep them coming
The Killing Joke was as anyone says....”Short but sweet!”
Killing joke is amazing. Same with dark knight returns and watchmen. One of my favourite books which didn't show up here was foolkiller MAX fools paradise. Damn, that book was so well written. Same case with batman damned and joker killer smile which are a little more recent but still of an excellent quality. Solid vid gem mint
Great stuff. Thanks for sharing
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!
The show for preacher was dope as fuck. It's the reason I read the comics and fell in love with them too
Pretty sold list. Lots of other great stories out there but your list is solid. I’ve definitely been more of a marvel fan since the 80’s but The Long Halloween and the TDKR’s were icon to me as a kid and are my top two stories all time. Frank Millers Daredevil and his Wolverine mini series were also fantastic.
Why are you so underrated? 🤔🤔🤔 Love from Cyprus 🤩🤩🤩❤❤❤❤❤🇨🇾
Love these types of vids thanks gem
Preach! Great Video :)
Love you videos dude!!! Always a great watch
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.
Thanks was just thinking about getting started buying omnibus...Just gave me a starting spot kudos to you Sir Gemmint
Way late to the party lol, but these are great books...been going through a lot of your older videos checking them out, looking for stuff I'm unaware of...
Enjoyed the video. Thanks for making it. I would put Grant Morrison's X-Men. I really enjoyed that series. I was reading it during a time while raising my baby girl. Lots of good memories. Now she is buying her own comics to read.
Yes, just bought the Miller Daredevil Omnibus, super excited now that it's Gem Mint approved
Awesome video! GReat for people with limited funds - looking to break in on the best stories to read with limited time/money. I've read some of those but I think I'd have included Batman Hush and X-Men Days of Future Past somewhere. Great reminder of some of the absolute class that's out there in comic-book format and interesting to see the inspiration some films have taken from those stories.
Thanks bro gonna buy these when I get my allowance
Kingdom Come was definitely meant to be a commentary on the "Grim and Gritty" heroes that were popular during the 90's. I'm sure I read a statement by Mark Waid something like, "We used to make jokes about what might happen if the Image Universe ( Spawn, Wildcats, Youngblood, etc) invaded the DC Universe."
Super helpful, totally worth watching
I've only just started Batman the black mirror, my first DC comic in over 50 yrs, but have my vol 2 of Future Quest presents vol 2 (with Sapce Ghost) waiting at the book store...stay minty!
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.
Wow, fantastic video. Thanks a lot!
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.
Alan Moore’s Swamp Thing easily is a must read.
I don’t have any issues with your list. I think I have 9 out of the 10 you talked about. Other runs I enjoyed that I would say could possibly be in my top 10 are Black Hammer, Gotham Central, and possibly Kill or Be Killed. Great video!
Black Hammer will def be on lists like this years down the road when its all said and done. If you are into black hammer i hope your reading skulldigger and skeleton boy so far, its really good. Lemire is my favorite writer currently for sure
Excellent video. Alan Moore is incredible. No X-Men? Read all of those except Preacher.
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!😁
Perhaps All-Star Superman could’ve gotten some recognition, even as an honourable mention
I loved the preacher TV show. My copy of book 1 should be here Friday.
I like Scott Snyder's run on Batman but I believe Grant Morrison's run was better.
Great list!! They are a bit more recent but the first civil war story and secret empire were so good.
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 top 10 (so far, no specific order)
- Watchmen
- Maus
- Persepolis
- the Art of Flying
- Wrinkles
- Infinity Gauntlet
- Deathnote (series)
- Sandman (series)
- Batman: Year One
- Walking Dead (series)
My top 17 so far -
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.
Green Lantern Vol 1 was my first omni ever and I got it thanks to this channel. I've so far made it through vol 1+2 and Brightest day w/ Tie-ins and I loved them. Totally agree they are must reads. Court of Owls was amazing the story that got me into comics.
Batman: Year One - I was shocked didn't make the cut.
No complaints here! I would have loved to see Batman: Hush, Promethea and Sin City on the list but amazing reads.
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.
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.