Comic/Graphic Novel Recommendations & Discussion

Hello everyone! The topic of comics and graphic novels came up briefly in my AMA (linked here), but I wanted to make a dedicated spot in this forum where everyone can drop their favorite comics and graphic novels and talk about why they love them!

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I, personally, generally go for non-superhero stuff (though there are certainly some superhero comics I've enjoyed), so Image is probably my favorite publisher.

I will try to update my list of recommendations below every once in a while.

If you have any recs, drop them below! Read any of the stuff on my reading list, let us know what you thought of it!

My Recommendations:

-Saga (Image Comics). Don't really need to explain this one too much, an epic fantasy/science fiction space opera centering on a child born of parents from warring planets. The worldbuilding is great and so many of the characters are too loveable and relatable. Very much Game-of-Thrones-in-space. It's a must-read for any comic fan as long as you're okay with very real and graphic depictions of pretty much every hot-button topic in existence (including violence, genocide, abortion, sexuality, racism, etc etc).

-Starstruck (IDW). The comic book origins of the Dimension20 season. The Starstruck comics are fun, crazy, full of interesting concepts and writing styles, very progressive for their time, terribly disorientating, but so so so rewarding, and well worth the number of times I furrowed my brow at something, reread something 20 pages ago, then returned to the current page, still just as confused lmao. You really just gotta let yourself be along for the ride of reading these comics.

-Daytripper (DC). A very deep, introspective graphic novel about a guy who writes obituaries for the local newspaper and is struggling to find meaning in life. I still think about it at least once a week. It packs some powerful themes and messages, and is a gripping page-turner.

-The Old Guard (Image). The comic origins of the Netflix movie of the same name. An unexpectedly great tale about a small group of (mostly) immortal people from all periods of history. Has some GREAT LGBTQ representation (which I did not know going in, and was very happily surprised to find) and very interesting story.

-Critical Role: Mighty Nein Origins (Dark Horse). TBH, most of Critical Role's comics are just okay and nothing too special, but this series has been consistently amazing. I would recommend not reading these without already having watched Campaign 2 of Critical Role, as they contain literally the MOST MASSIVE SPOILERS POSSIBLE, but they are well worth the wait. The art and page layouts are some of the most beautiful I've seen so far in comic books, and do a great job of setting the characters up for C2.

On My Reading List/Currently Reading:

-Paper Girls (Image)
-Low (Image)
-Something is Killing the Children (Boom Studios)
-The Vision (Marvel)
-The Last Session (Mad Cave Studios)
-Y: The Last Man (Vertigo)

I used to be really into comics, but almost exclusively superhero stuff. And mostly DC. I haven't really read many comics recently, though.

I really liked Y: The Last Man, always meant to re-read it but never got to it.

I'll add:
Pride of Baghdad, a short story about four lions escaping the Baghdad Zoo during a US bombing.
The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck is chock-full of amazing adventures and ideas and is a must read for any Duck Tales fan.

For superhero stuff, I say that nothing is quite as satisfying as the full Invincible saga, a full superhero universe without needing to follow 8 diferent titles every month.

My usual list of fave comics...

JLA by Grant Morrison & Howard Porter
Animal Man by Grant Morrison
All Star Superman by Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely
Planetary by Warren Ellis
The Authority by Warren Ellis
Swamp Thing by Alan Moore
Miracleman by Alan Moore
Promethea by Alan Moore
Top 10 by Alan Moore
Supreme by Alan Moore
Watchmen by Alan Moore
Sandman by Neil Gaiman
Lucifer by Mike Carey
House Of X/Powers Of X by Jonathan Hickman (the recent total and brilliant revitalization of the X-Men)
Uncanny X-Men by Kieron Gillen
X-Men: Second Coming by various
Captain Marvel by Peter David
Spider-Man 2099 by Peter David (the 21st C series)
Manhunter by Marc Andreyko
Dynamo 5 by Jay Faerber
Noble Causes by Jay Faerber
Avengers: No Surrender by various
Avengers: No Road Home by various
Astro City by Kurt Busiek

Some are straight up fun superheroics (JLA, X-Men, Avengers, Dynamo 5, Noble Causes, Spider-Man 2099, Captain Marvel), some have a more critical take/commentary on the superhero genre and push its boundaries (Astro City, Manhunter, Animal Man, Planetary, The Authority, Watchmen, Miracleman, Supreme, Top 10, Promethea), and some merely use superheroes as springboards into deep fantasy (Sandman, Lucifer, Swamp Thing).

...and each and every title above is complete and readily available on Amazon, etc. in trade paperback or digital formats. :)

As others have said, Saga is too good!
100 percent agree; one of the best start to finish! In a similar rec, the complete Hellboy / BPRD universe is a great read with likewise satisfying end.

I've really enjoyed IDW's ongoing TMNT. Image's Ascender and Descender have been enjoyable too. Oo, and Sixth Gun.

100% Saga is the best graphic novel series I've come across. But be warned it is very adult so if you don't care for that it might not be your cup of tea.

I read Invincible until around #85 before became too much for me. And friends who were still reading kept saying I admire Kirkman and Ottley for the great characters and plots they wove but I just couldn't go with them across the finish line.
I will say that I absolutely loved Allen the Alien, Shapesmith, the Mauler Twins, Tether Tyrant, Titan, Battlebeast, and Mark's mom. She was just such a sweet woman.
I'm glad people enjoyed the first season of the animated show, too, but not my cup of tea.

This is a great thread!

Some of my all-time favorites are:

Preacher by Garth Ennis & Steve Dillon (not for the faint hearted)
Lone Wolf & Cub by Kazuo Koike and Goseki Kojima (not for the faint hearted)
Heavy Metal by Various (The long running magazine is still going strong. I've ordered it through a local comic shop)
Sin City by Frank Miller (this was a great series before Miller went nuts, also not for the faint hearted)
Mouse Guard by David Peterson (If you like Redwall or Watership Down, this one is for you)
The Invisibles by Grant Morrison
Blade of the Immortal by Hiroaki Samura (They also made a film of this directed by Takashi Miike (famous for the somewhat depraved film Ichi the Killer), and both the comic and the movie are violent.)
Watchmen by Alan Moore

Once upon a time I loved supers comics, but I have to say I've become a bit frustrated by them. That being said, I've got a long running soft spot for titles such as the X-Men, Savage Dragon, Frank Miller's run on Daredevil, Kingdom Come by Mark Waid and Alex Ross, and I'm sure I'm forgetting titles here. Some other stuff I've stumbled across that have been quite good are the anthologies Dark Horse put together of old horror comics mahazines Creepy and Eerie. Otherwise, I'm going to keep tabs on this thread. I've already seen some things on here that I want to check out.

How could I forget Kindgom Come and Marvels?! Ross and Waid did such epic work together on Kingdom Come before their falling out, and Ross and Busiek's Marvels remains a favourite of mine, especially for this one cover which really speaks to me...

I was just about to mention those two specifically. They were both, along with Earth X, such seminal pieces of writing and art.

Oh, how could I forget the hundreds of Donald Duck comics I used to have as a kid 😄

So many good comics mentioned already. I'll mention a couple of Superman comics that are delightful:

Superman: Peace on Earth by Alex Ross and Paul Dini. In this story, Superman takes on world hunger. If you've ever despaired that the world's problems are just too big and wonder how they'll ever get solved, watching an iconic character like Superman go through this will hit you straight in the feels. It is a "giant-sized" format so might be hard to find these days.

All Star Superman by Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely. It's my favorite Superman series. It's a love letter to the Superman character. Gets a little over the top, but issue ten is my favorite Superman comic of all time.

And annex already mentioned this one, but it is my favorite so I'll shine the spotlight on it a bit more:

Planetary by Warren Ellis and John Cassaday. This is the tale of a team of superheros trying to uncover the secret history of their world, which contains just about every pop culture icon from 20th century stories that influenced the superhero genre. It becomes a study of superhero mythology while still being a tight, fun super hero story on its own.

All Star Superman is epic yet human. It's probably my favourite Superman story, too. It's also very much in the vein of what Alan Moore did with his reboot of Supreme: a love letter to Superman and the Silver Age filled with joy and not nihilism.

I have to say I read most of what has been suggested in this thread, but Planetary definitely stands out as one of my favorite stories. I absolutely love how their take on any and every comic book character.

Also drawn by Cassady, and penned by Joss Whedon, the first modern run of Astonishing X-Men.

And the I will mention Maus by Art Spiegelman, different than most of the stuff mentioned here but so good it should be an obligatory read in school.

I can second or third a lot of the books already on this list. A lesser known book that I really enjoyed was Alex +Ada by Jonathan Luna and Sarah Vaughn. It's not your usual heroic fare, more of a transhumanist love story. I rather enjoyed it because it's outside the realm of what I usually read.

Great recommendations!

Now this is a username I haven't seen in a long time 👋

It's been a while. Real life was not kind to my gaming time, but I'm dipping my toes back in.

Some others I can recommend in no particular order:

Saga
Paper Girls
Y: The Last Man
Preacher
The Wicked + The Divine
Sex Criminals
Lumberjanes
Rat Queens
and a zillion various author runs on a slew of Marvel and DC titles that made certain characters favorites in their respective multiverses. I'd have to dig in the brain archives for those, since I haven't read many lately.

Another graphic novel that I found quite by accident is the Delilah Dirk series by Tony Cliff
Delilah Dirk and the Turkish Lieutenant, Delilah Dirk and the King's Shilling, and Delilah Dirk and the Pillars of Hercules. It's kind of a Victoria era female Indiana Jones. She's smart, sassy, and can kick butt when she needs to. One of the best aspects is the interaction between her and the Turkish Lieutenant, Selim. It seems to embody the best aspects of action-adventure tales with just enough maturity to hold adult attention without crossing the line into areas that might turn off some people. Of course, I'm a fan of sassy female protagonists, so this book is right up my alley.