Suggest some Graphic novels and Trade Paperbacks

[Youth N Asia 0]

My library has a lot of Graphic novels and TPBs. Tons of Batman. I read Preacher through there, but don't really know what else I should look out for. I've always liked Bats and Supes, and there is a lot of them there. So what's good?

[HarleyQuinn 0]

Batman

- The Long Halloween (Definitely worth reading. Artwork may take some getting used to but a fabulous mystery read.)

- Batman: Year One

- The Killing Joke (More a Joker story though)

- Batman: The Dark Knight Returns

- Batman: Knightfall (the arc is worth reading... might want to hold off on this until some of the prior books have been read though)

[razazteca 0]

Frank Miller is god.

[Vampiro69 0]

Frank Miller is god.

 

Well more people would have agreed with that statement if he never wrote All-Star Batman.

[ZGangsta 0]

Frank Miller is god.

 

Well more people would have agreed with that statement if he never wrote All-Star Batman.

What are you retarded or something? He's the goddamn Frank Miller!

Seriously though shitty All-Star Batman aside, most of Miller's stuff is worth a read.

 

You can of course go with the pair of 'everyone on earth must read them' books. Watchmen (Alan Moore) and Dark Knight Returns (Frank Miller).

 

For Batman you can't go wrong with

Dark Knight Returns

The Long Halloween

Batman: Year One

The Killing Joke

 

For my money, the best Superman graphic novel (even though it's more than just Superman) is Kingdom Come. You gotta read that, it's amazing.

[Special K 0]

In addition to everything above:

 

 

Batman: Dark Victory is good as well, but make sure to read Long Halloween first, Dark Victory is its direct sequel.

 

If there's a trade of the JLA: Tower of Babel arc, I'd give that a look. Great Batman stuff.

 

Batman Adventures: Mad Love is a terrificly fun little graphic novel, which is done in the style of the Batman Animated Series.

 

Batman: Hush is definitely worth reading. (2 books) Has some great stuff with Superman in there.

 

A couple that aren't so great for Bats, IMHO: Death in the Family is pretty bad, though it's certainly important to the character. No Man's Land, as a whole, is really long and dull. The final part of that particular series is great though. (it's gotta be like 5 TPBs)

 

 

Of course, with the library, just go to a local branch and read everything you can! It's free. Scouring free TPBs is always a good thing. I've found a few unexpected gems just from grabbing things on impulse.

 

 

Superman: Red Son is very cool.

 

Superman: Secret Identity is a very different, low-key, but excellent tale.

 

Check out Alan Moore's greatest DC stories. It has the wonderful What Ever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow? Lot's of other good stories, including the aforementioned Killing Joke.

 

And though it's not really Superman, check out Kurt Busiek's first volume of Astro City and see if you like it.

 

Something I've always thought is that Superman is far superior in Elseworld stories.

 

 

 

And here's some titles that you should pick up if you see, regardless.

Authority, Planetary, (Planetary must be read from the beginning) Transmetropolitan by Warren Ellis.

Hellblazer

Any various title by Frank Miller or Alan Moore. Hell, The Dark Knight Strikes again is really cool, it just doesn't at all live up to DKR. (Ok, All-Star Batman is shite)

Anything by Garth Ennis, anything from Brian Michael Bendis that ISN'T in Marvel continuity.

Anything drawn by Geof Darow or Mike Allred.

Essentials. The Marvel line of cheap old-school reprints. My library has a ton of them, and they're always fun to look at. Dig that crazy Spider-Man tune, Dad! (Sider-Man had the worst dialogue ever back in the day.)

Teen Titans and Legion of Super-Heroes generally kick ass. The latest incarnation of LoSH is one of my favorite books.

[Kurt Angle Mark 0]

Others that I might suggest are

 

Superman For All Seasons. A look back at Superman's early times by Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale. Great book

 

and although Superman and Batman don't have a major role in the book DC:The New Frontier is the best superhero series DC has had in the last few years

[ZGangsta 0]

Oh yeah, I forgot about Red Son that one's great.

[pochorenella 0]

If you ever want to try Marvel stuff you can go no wrong with the Marvels TPB by Kurt Busiek and Alex Ross, without a doubt my favorite TPB of all time. And if you wanna go with stuff specifically made as a graphic novel may I suggest The Death of Captain Marvel and the X-Men one God Loves, Man Kills, also two of the greatest ever IMO.

[Special K 0]

Yeah, those are terrific. I really love The Death of Captain Marvel. That is a graphic novel only, no?

 

One thing: The 'X' series (Earth X, Universe X, Paradise X) Is sheer crap, Alex Ross covers or no. There's a couple of book where I would say, just don't pick it up, free or not. It sucks ass. If there was one adjective to describe that series it would be 'ponderous.'

[Canadian Brandon 0]

Kingdom Come is a great read. I don't even really enjoy comics/graphic novels, but I loved every second of it.

[FroGG_NeaL 0]

Watchmen, Marvels, anything by Frank Miller.

[tbondrage99 0]

Bone The One Volume

Batman: The Long Holloween

Superman: Birthright

Spider-Man Blue

Daredevil: Born Again

Teen Titans: The Judas Contract

The Punisher: Welcome Back Frank

Green Lantern: Rebirth

Green Arrow: Quiver

Also if you havent read The Walking Dead I suggest picking up those trades

[Youth N Asia 0]

I just read Marvel Zombies...I could have done without.

 

I had started the No Man's Land series when I was working in a comic book store, but we shut down shortly after it started. My library has vols 4 and 5

 

Which is the Green Lantern Series where Hal loses it and it ends with Kyle getting the ring.

 

I've read a handful of the must read series: Kingdom Come, Watchmen, a few Astro Cities, the newer Punisher stuff

[pochorenella 0]

Which is the Green Lantern Series where Hal loses it and it ends with Kyle getting the ring.

I believe it's called either "Emerald Dawn" or "Emerald Twilight". Never read it, though.

[tbondrage99 0]

Which is the Green Lantern Series where Hal loses it and it ends with Kyle getting the ring.

I believe it's called either "Emerald Dawn" or "Emerald Twilight". Never read it, though.

 

Emerald Dawn is Hals orgin story, and is fantastic. So Im pretty sure it would be Emerald Twlight.

[Blade2kxx 0]

I'll go with Batman: Hush as a great read on top of everything else that's been said.

 

Also, if you like Superman, try out Emperor Joker. It's a bit longish, but it's alot of fun.

 

Also, because I can, I'm gonna pimp out Runaways. Yes, it's Marvel, but Holy Crap do I LOVE Runaways.

[Steviekick 0]

Runaways is a great read. It's definitely worth buying the super cool hardcover editions.

[The Metal Maniac 0]

Which is the Green Lantern Series where Hal loses it and it ends with Kyle getting the ring.

I believe it's called either "Emerald Dawn" or "Emerald Twilight". Never read it, though.

 

Emerald Dawn is Hals orgin story, and is fantastic. So Im pretty sure it would be Emerald Twlight.

 

Just to be picky, it's Emerald Twilight - New Dawn. At least, that's what the copy I have says on the cover.

[Youth N Asia 0]

Just finished Identity Crisis from my library, liked it a lot.

[Mrnoitaull 0]

Batman:Under the Hood (1&2)

Marvel:House of M(kinda short)

Marvel Civil War

The Atonishing X-Men trades (though its not done yet)

 

Both the art and stories are excellent

[benn 0]

If you like film noir and Elseworlds stuff, then Batman: Thrillkiller is a short, fun read.

[Steviekick 0]

Dan Slott's She-Hulk run has been a really fun read, although some might get turned off with some of the more obscure references.

[Youth N Asia 0]

I just read the Green Lantern one where Hal comes back and they finally explain what Paralax was all about. Don't recall the name, but good read.

 

I want to get into the Civil War stuff, but I checked Borders yesterday and there's so much of it, I wouldn't even know where to start

[Steviekick 0]

Just read the main Civil War book by Millar and McNiven. It's a much easier and rewarding read than a lot of the supplemental books.

[tbondrage99 0]

I just read the Green Lantern one where Hal comes back and they finally explain what Paralax was all about. Don't recall the name, but good read.

 

Green Lantern: Reborn.

 

Just finished Y: The Last Man Book 9. It was fantastic as per usual, it makes me really sad that the series is ending soon and I only have one more trade to get to complete the collection.

 

I also just finished "Wolverine: Enemy of the State" and the first three Usagi Yojimo books. All are great reads.

[Vampiro69 0]

Batman: Arkham Asylum is also a good read. It was written by Grant Morrison so be prepared for an interesting reading.

[Jericho2000Mark 0]

Batman: Gotham by Gaslight, it's written and drawn by Mike Mignola, the creator of Hellboy, it's an elseworlds tale (the first one) about a Batman in the 1800's who fights Jack The Ripper.

[Jingus 0]

I second most of the Batman books mentioned here... except Hush, I found that whole run to be pretty terrible. Way too much "OMG what a SWERVE~!" type stuff.

 

Anything written by Alan Moore. EVER. But don't jump right in with some of his more obscure stuff like V for Vendetta, Tom Strong, From Hell, or Promethea. Instead, go with Watchmen, League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Top 10, or his Swamp Thing run. And oh yeah, definitely check out that collection of various DC stories which he wrote, it's all gold.

 

If you can stand more artsy stuff which has a ludicrous amount of literary allusions, definitely give Neil Gaiman's Sandman a try (and read past the first book, it gets better).

[Nightwing 0]

If you want good Batman stuff, I'd say that the Knightfall series is almost a necessity, for it's introduction of Bane, as well as seeing Batman spread far too thin. Utterly great arc, with a great ending in my opinion.

 

The most recent Detective Comics run with Paul Dini has been nothing short of utterly brilliant. They are pretty much a bunch of one-offs, brilliantly strung together reintroducing villains after the One Year Later Mark. I personally enjoyed most of the "No Man's Land" storyline, even if it had some bad points. At least the first book is worth picking up and reading.

 

I'd say the first Superman arc after OYL (Up, Up and Away, I believe it's called) is worth a read. If the Zod storyline in Action Comics ever finishes, that'll be another 'Must Buy'. Superman: Infinite Crisis is pretty good for just seeing how Supermen can turn out differently. Avoid Superman/Batman like the plague, though. Honestly, I never liked any of that stuff.

 

If you want to try stuff other than the big two, I'd suggest Checkmate as a good political thriller type comic with good fights, along with some of the earlier Outsider books in the most recent volume. The new Blue Beetle is pretty cool, and if you have some extra cash, check out some TPB of Birds of Prey, Manhunter (A really brilliant series), and (I can't believe I'm saying this) Catwoman OYL.