Can't decide what comic to read next any suggestions?

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FeralToaster

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so I finally finished reading the complete run of Spawn after about a year and I'm bit unsure what comic series/ run to read next. Prior to the Spawn run I had quite enjoyed Batman Court of the Owls but I think I've since acquire a taste for over the top hijinks. I'd like to narrow the choices to either DC or Marvel but otherwise feel free to suggest something. Oh and here's a partial list of what I heard was cool that I'm currently considering.
1. Batman who Laughs- apparently it has a new elseworlds made up of just alternate Batmen who join forces to get regular Batman. This definitely sounds cool but does it work as a Batman story?
2. Thor- apparently Thor is now the herald of Galactus and they go off and have adventures. Sounds cool and I approve of the team-up but I don't know where to start reading from?
3. The Immortal Hulk- Apparently the Hulk is immortal now and grappling with the existential reality of that fact. I love deep philosophical discussions in superhero comics and if that's what this run is about I'm all in, If it is just the Hulk hitting stuff I'll be bored by the end of the first issue though.
4. X-Men- apparently Jean Grey is not just alive again but both the current version and the original are alive for some reason. This could be fun but I don't know where to start reading from.
 
All depends on what you like of course but if you haven't already read it I'd suggest either Frank Miller's Born Again arc in Daredevil or Grant Morrison's trippy run on The X-Men.

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Yeah, that was was a fun wacky run of the Xmen to read (especially the bits with Xorn) before they gave it to Chuck Austen and the storyline went off the rails (and not in the fun Claremont's Excalibur way either). Good memory with the Born again Daredevil run, I had forgotten it had that whole Captain America super soldier subplot that made it both noir and wacky. Unfortunately, I've already read both...
 
If you like superheroes, what about Astro City? It's somewhat more grounded, it takes the viewpoint "superheroes are awesome! What stories can we tell with them?" and, other than a few stretches where it's intentionally very dark, generally pretty optimistic. It's an anthology series that touches in with a pretty large cast; if you want a taste of what it's like, I'd probably suggest Confessions, The Tarnished Angel, or Through Open Doors as good examples of what it's about, but any of the collections is a good starting point

The other comic I was reading is The Wicked + The Divine. Every ninety years, twelve gods are reincarnated as humans; it's 2014, and it's happening again. It's about... a lot of things.
 
If you like superheroes, what about Astro City?

The other comic I was reading is The Wicked + The Divine.

okay I haven't read either Astro City or The Wicked+ The Divine, but I did read both Allan Moore's Tom Strong and Promethea, how similar would you say they are? I enjoyed both series but if there is another mystic superhero series that is half as good Promethea I'll pick up the first volume tomorrow.
 
Hard to say without knowing what you like, but if you want superheroes...
You can't go wrong with Steve Ditko
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or Simon & Kirby
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I recently lent a guy at work my beat-up Green Lantern/Green Arrow book and blew his mind with the artwork (stories are uneven but still far superior to what passes for writing now).
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Wow, those are some nice deep cuts of comic lore you brought out, Nice. I'm actually surprised I haven't hunted down a copy of the Sandman after his cameo in Neal Gaiman's Sandman " I did read the version in Infinity Inc. though, kinda weird read. That Green arrow Green Lantern series is alway disuse when the book club is doing comics. I actually feel that's probably Green Arrows best storyline actually.
 
Wow, those are some nice deep cuts of comic lore you brought out, Nice. I'm actually surprised I haven't hunted down a copy of the Sandman after his cameo in Neal Gaiman's Sandman " I did read the version in Infinity Inc. though, kinda weird read. That Green arrow Green Lantern series is alway disuse when the book club is doing comics. I actually feel that's probably Green Arrows best storyline actually.
Yeah, it probably is. I also really enjoyed GA's 4-issue miniseries with art by Trevor von Eeden. I wish they would put that out as a collection.
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Barry Allen is my Flash and Hal Jordan is my Green Lantern but the best thing DC could've done if they had to kill the former and retire the latter would have been to let the Flash die saving the universe and let his protégé Wally West pick up the baton and try to live up the legacy, and to let Hal Jordan ride off into the sunset and have the balls to make John Stewart be the Green Lantern. But not a bald one. I liked Original Recipe™John Stewart.
Actually, you might enjoy these tales of Green Lantern with pre-Watchmen Dave Gibbons art. The first two volumes are better than the third. This is where John Stewart took up the reins and became a full-time Green Lantern rather than just an alternative GL. The Hal Jordan storyline is good, too, although I don't really like the denouement and would rather he had just retired and maybe turned up now and then when John Stewart wanted advice or to look in on what he was up as a civilian.
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Astro City is amazing. If you just want to read one good arc, go with Tarnished Angel, the story of Steeljack, ex-super con trying to find work and live an honest life in a city where everybody recognize him as a major super crimminal. Convession is a good take on the Batman and Robin schtick. Dark Age is interesting in its scope but not really all that great. There's lots of single issue stories that are good fun. I particularly like the origin of Beautie, The Crimson Cougar, The Gentleman's backstory / origin. So many good one issue one shots. Yeah, Astro City is where you go when you're so dog tired of The Mega Crisis or Infinite Wars part 16.
 
If you want some pre Watchmen Dave Gibbons, go back to where he started, along with the likes of Brian Bolland, Alan Moore and Garth Ennis. The mighty 2000AD

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I’ve got no idea if it’s still available, but if you want to try something other than superheroes, I would recommend Jack Jackson’s (Jaxon’s) Comanche Moon, and also his Los Tejanos. Or if you prefer something a little more fictional (more like historical horror), there’s Secret of San Saba.

I could recommend a bunch of other “alternative” comics (though I’m increasingly out of date) but Jaxon really stands out for narrative style without the slightest whiff of pretension that you might find in other books that try to be “artsy”.
 
My recommendations:

Indy
Grendel - one of my personal favorites. READ ALL OF IT. Get the Omnibuses and the Grendel crossovers (Grendel/Batman I and II and The Shadow/Grendel are *excellent*). Grendel Tales are good too.
Metabarons/Incal - SUBLIME.
Saga - pretty good.


Marvel/DC
Sandman
Y the Last Man
Thor -
Walt Simonson's run is pure glory.
JLA vs. Avengers (2003-2004) - A four-issue love letter to super-hero comics fans everywhere. It is pure. It is good. C'mon Busiek writing, and George Perez doing the best art of his career (he almost ruined himself doing the insane art).
Thunderbolts - New Thunderbolts - The original arc of Thunderbolts were absolutely awesome. I don't think anyone at Marvel currently could pull it off - and of course it was Kurt Busiek doing the writing. The stories were excellent, and did an incredibly good job of getting into the heads of some classic villains in a unique and sympathetic way without watering any of them down. The Thunderbolts/Avengers crossover was really good too.

I don't recommend hardly anything from Marvel or DC in the last ten years... most of it has been utter dreck by comparison. There have been some slight exceptions to this... but nothing I'd recommend.
 
Miracleman/Marvelman is a favorite of mine - Alan Moore deconstructing comics like Watchmen, but more fun and flashy. Read it all, especially the later volume by Neil Gaiman.
 
For another superhero deconstruction, I’d look at Marshall Law—only the original series, not any of the follow-ons. It’s perhaps familiar ground for those who read The Dark Knight Returns and Watchman, but IMO executed with more panache and better writing than either.
 
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I’ve got no idea if it’s still available, but if you want to try something other than superheroes, I would recommend Jack Jackson’s (Jaxon’s) Comanche Moon, and also his Los Tejanos.

At least one of these is put at comixology and added to my read list.
 
Hmm, well, I'm just going to rattle of my top...some number I'll come up with...comicbook series/trades/runs of all time, (not including Golden Age/Silver Age classics everyone is already aware of like the Ditko/Romita run on Amazing Spidey,, etc ) in no particular order:

1. Neil Gaiman's Sandman
2. Jeff Smith's Bone
3. Alan Moore's Watchmen
4. Mike Mignola's Hellboy
5. Eric Powell's The Goon
6. Gary Gianni's Monstermen
7. Will Eisner's The Spirit
8. Grant Morrison's The Invisibles
9. James Robinson's Starman
10. Guy Davis's The Marquis
11. Sam Keith's The Maxx
12. Loeb/Sale's Batman: The Long Halloween
13. Morrison/Quietly's All Star Superman
14. Dave Sim's Cerebus (up until around "Guys")
15. Alan Moore's Saga of the Swamp Thing
16. Larry Hama's G.I. Joe
17. John Ney Rieber's Books of Magic
18. Alan Moore/Neil Gaiman's Miracleman aka Marvelman
19. Steve Rude's World's Finest
20. Miller/Romita Jr's The Man Without Fear
21. John Ney Rieber's Shadows Fall
22. Keith Giffen's Justice League
23. Alan Moore's Promethea
24. Ted Naifah's Courtney Crumrin & The Night Things
25. Morrison/McKean's Arkham Asylum
26. Alan Moore's Killing Joke
27. Garth Ennis's Preacher
28. Waid/Ross's Kingdom Come
29. Alan Moore's V For Vendetta
30. Grant Morrison's Doom Patrol
31. Darwyn Cooke's The New Frontier
32. Peter Milligan's Shade: The Changing Man
33. Terry Moore's Strangers in Paradise
34. Joe Kelly's Deadpool
35. Brian Michael Bendis's run on Daredevil
36. Warren Ellis's Planetary
37. James Robinson's The Golden Age
38. Alan Davis's Excalibur (along with Alan Moore's Captain Britain)
39. Mignola's Dr. Doom/Dr. Strange: Triumph & Torment
40. Spider-man: Kraven's Last Hunt
41. Spider-man: Return & Revenge of the Sinister Six
42. Roger Stern's Hobgoblin Saga in Spider-man, concluding with the Hobgoblin Lives graphic novel
43. Walt Simonson's run on Thor
44. Milligan & Allred's X-Force
45. X-Men: God Loves, Man Kills
46. Gotham By Gaslight
47. Garth Ennis's Punisher
48. Mary Jane Loves Spider-man
49. Hellblazer
50. Alan Moore's From Hell


...I could probably keep going to 100, but I think that represents the cream of the crop
 
Damn, couldn't stop thinking of others that belong on that list.

51. Mark Waid's JLA: Year One
52. Quantum & Woody
53. Shirow's Ghost in the Shell
54. Roy Thomas's Conan
55. Matt Wagner's Grendel
56. 1963
57. Paul Chadwick's Concrete
58. Kazuo Koike's Lone Wolf & Cub
59. Scott Pilgrim
60. Claremont's Dark Phoenix Saga
61. X-Men: Days of Future Past
62. Spider-Man: The Death of Jean DeWolff
63. Superman: Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow?
64. Dennis O'Neil's run on Detective Comics
65. Mark Schultz's Xenozoic Tales
66. Nocenti/Van Fleet's Typhoid
67. Warren Ellis's Transmetropolitan
68. Katsuhiro Otomo's Akira
69. Frank Thorne's Red Sonja
70. Pini's ElfQuest
71. Busiek's Astro City
72. Mignola/Davis's B.P.R.D.
73. Kentaro Miura's Berserk
74. Neil Gaiman's Black Orchid
75. Hiroaki Samura's Blade of the Immortal
76. Epic Comic's Hellraiser Anthology series
77. Marc Hempel's Breathtaker
78. Kyle Baker's Why I Hate Saturn
79. Milligan's The Enigma
80. Wolfman & Colan's Tomb of Dracula
81. Matt Wagner's Sandman Mystery Theatre
82. Grant Morrison's Kill Your Boyfriend
83. Larry Hama & Marc Silvestri's run on Wolverine
84. Alan Moore's Lovecraft Trilogy (Providence/The Courtyard/Neonomicon)
85. Jamie Hewlett's Tank Girl
86. Mike Allred's Madman
87. Straczynski/Romita Jr's run on Amazing Spider-man
88. Avenger's Emperor Doom
89. Spider-man 2099
90. Batman Adventures
91. Grant Morrison's 1 2 3 4
92. Busiek/Pacheco's Avengers Forever
93. Fox/Kubert's run on Hawkman
94. Neil Gaiman's Mr. Punch
95. Rick Vietch's Bratpack
96. Wade/Wieringo’s run on Fantastic Four
97. Dylan Dog
98. Invincible
99. Spider:Man: Parallel Lives


Holy Fuck, I've read a lot of comics - I mean, these are just the very best, so they represent like 1% of what I've consumed. How the hell did I even have that much time growing up?
 
Hmm, well, I'm just going to rattle of my top...some number I'll come up with...comicbook series/trades/runs of all time, (not including Golden Age/Silver Age classics everyone is already aware of like the Ditko/Romita run on Amazing Spidey,, etc ) in no particular order:
I've read probably about 20 or so of these, but those 20 were all excellent. So I might keep this list around...

Of course, you throw a few manga in there, and that's a whole 'nother list - one I'm even less qualified to contribute to. But I'll add two relatively recent ones, both by the writer One: One-Punch Man (I recommend the first season anime and all the manga so far), and Mob Psycho 100 (the web comic, and all of the anime so far).
 
It doesn't have the street-cred as some other prestige title mentioned in this thread, but Paul Tobin "Doctor Doom and the Masters of Evil" mini-series was a joy to read. Particularly recommended for all you Princess Python fans out there. I can't' be the only one?

His "Black Widow and the Marvel Girls" is also fun.

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It doesn't have the street-cred as some other prestige title mentioned in this thread, but Paul Tobin "Doctor Doom and the Masters of Evil" mini-series was a joy to read.
In a similar vein, this short-lived series was a hoot to read.

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(featuring the five members of the Sinister Six)
 
The Ballad of Halo Jones is possibly my favourite 2000AD series of all time. Though Zenith runs it close...
Zenith was amazing. At least that’s what I remember. Did they ever reprint it.
 
Yes, you can get four anthologies, in print or PDF via DriveThru Comics.

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Hmm, well, I'm just going to rattle of my top...some number I'll come up with...comicbook series/trades/runs of all time, (not including Golden Age/Silver Age classics everyone is already aware of like the Ditko/Romita run on Amazing Spidey,, etc ) in no particular order:

1. Neil Gaiman's Sandman
If you like Sandman then you'll almost certainly like Mike Carey's Lucifer too.
 
If you like Sandman then you'll almost certainly like Mike Carey's Lucifer too.

Yeah, I've read all the Sandman spin-offs...The Dreaming, Dead Boy Detectives, Death's various minis, Dreamhunters, Overtures, Destiny: A Chronicle of Deaths Foretold, The Children's Crusade, Merv Pumpkinhead, Agent of D.R.E.A.M. , Thessaly - Witch for Hire , The Thessalaid, Petrefax, The Furies, The Corinthian - Death in Venice, Love Street, Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Dreams... But Were Afraid to Ask, God Save the Queen, The Little Endless Storybook...
 
I utterly adore Ballad Of Halo Jones. A shame it never got completed.
I honestly didn’t know it was ever due to go past three books. I kind of like how the third book ends, with her flying out into the galaxy, keen to take control of her life. It’s optimistic.
 
I honestly didn’t know it was ever due to go past three books. I kind of like how the third book ends, with her flying out into the galaxy, keen to take control of her life. It’s optimistic.
Rumour has it that at least one more book was planned. But Alan Moore had one of his tantrums and fell out with basically everyone at Fleetway.
 
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