Comics for Christmas

[Gareth]

I am compiling a Christmas list and I was wondering if there were any must own graphic novel suggestions you guys have. I a big fan of Batman comics and at the moment I own Year One, Year Two, Long Halloween, Dark Victory, Killing Joke, Hush, Under the Hood, Mad Love, Battle for the Cowl, and a few others I am probably forgetting. As for Superman I just have the death and return story ark and All Star, and justice league I have Darwyn Cookes new frontier.

A few that I've put on my list are The Watchmen and Towel of Babel, any suggestions?

[KnightWing]

Superman: Red Son, Kingdom Come, Batman: Noel, Batman: Haunted Knight, Lex Luthor: Man of Steel (re-collected recently as "Luthor").

[SuaveStar]

Batman/Judge Dredd Case files. Batman and Son, Detective Comics: Black Mirror. Batman & Robin from the trades: Reborn, Batman VS Robin to Batman and Robin must die.

[Koete]

Batman in the Fifties.

[Gareth]

I put this in the DC section but any good comics are fine. What about Brian Azzarello's Joker, is that any good?

[SuaveStar]

I put this in the DC section but any good comics are fine. What about Brian Azzarello's Joker, is that any good?

Yes, and no. Yes, it's good as he's basically The Joker from The Dark Knight, and the art is pretty distinctive and good, but the story ends on such a strange note, that sort of dampens the rest of the book, it's sort of hit and miss.

I'd say if you can get it cheap on Amazon, or have a library close by where you can get it, then pick up, but at full price, for an around 100 page hardcover, it isn't worth the price tag.

Other comics I'd recommend:

Everyone else will agree, but you cannot go wrong with The Walking Dead. You can get the single volumes, up to volume 13 right now, I think. If you enjoy the show, the book is about ten times better.

Daredevil by Brian Michael Bendis is out in 3 large TPB volumes, and should be cheap to pick up. Again, for this, I'd recommend looking for Bendis first issue, which Marvel released last year for $1, to see if you like Alex Maleev art or not, as he does most of the art throughout the series.

If you're a horror fan, Freddy VS Jason VS Ash Volume 1 is a great read. Instead of trying to be fan-fiction that throws stuff at the wall, the writers actually try and write an interesting story involving the three horror icons.

All ages stuff, I'd recommend Billy Batson and the magic of Shazam. The series is out in unnumbered trades, the first one being Shazam: The Monster Society of Evil, by Jeff Smith, and continues with Billy Batson and the magic of Shazam. Around the second volume, the art gets a bit wonky, but it is followed up by some great Mike Norton art. If you like Captain Marvel, and a fun all ages story, I'd recommend this.

Aliens VS Predator omnibuses by Dark Horse are great. Some of the stories in the volumes are dull, but you get around 500 pages of colour art for about $20, and the good stories, are fantastic, so it's worth the very few, dull stories.

Tiny Titans is a fun read, and is on it's seventh or eighth trade. You can get the first volume "Welcome to the treehouse" for pretty cheap through amazon and other retailers, so I'd recommend giving it a look if you can get past the very young kid friendly art, as it is just a fun read.

52: You get 13 issues per volume by the top writers that DC had to offer at the time. They have commentaries from creators at the ends of the issues, and although some knowledge of the DC Universe, is helpful, it's not really essential.

Time Masters: Vanishing Point is a great one in done trade that I loved. The first issue is pretty slow, but then the story is just a fun run through time, and how doing things in the past, affects the modern day.

Hope that list covers something you liked.

[You Know Who]

Formerly Known as the Justice League, Superman and the Legion of Superheroes, Superman: Brainiac, Green Lantern: Secret Origin, Daredevil: The Devil, Inside and Out (first trade of Brubaker's run).

[prez]

Personally, I loved the initial Image run of "Powers," which I'd suggest to anyone. Also, if you like "Formerly Known as The Justice League" as much as I did, I'd suggest "Justice League: Generation Lost." And because I love the character, I'd suggest the trades of "Booster Gold." And I'm not sure if it's just me or not, but I loved Kevin Smith's "Quiver" storyline for Green Arrow.

For Marvel stuff, I'd definitely suggest "Marvels," "Alias" and Claremont and Frank Miller's original "Wolverine" mini. There's probably a lot more to suggest, but it would help to know if you like any Marvel stuff to begin with.

[Gareth]

I've never really read Marvel, but I'd be willing to give it a chance.

[Kenny Evil]

If you're willing to step outside of Superhero books, I can highly recommend Box Office Poison as a great slice of life book. It's the size of a telephone book,(about 600 pages) so should keep you going for a while. I keep threatening Tom with it as a previously collected trade for WFTT.

As a celebration of everything great and goofy about the Silver Age, you can't go wrong with Supreme by Alan Moore, Rick Veitch et al. I was fortunate enough to find both books in quick succession a couple of years ago

The fella in my avatar is Nikolai Dante and there's been a US edition of his first collection that was printed a few months ago. Nikolai is a young thief making his way through a 27th Century Russia which is at the head of an interstellar empire. He gets caught up in the dynastic struggle between the two main houses, the Makarovs headed by Tsar Valdimir the Conqueror, and the Romanovs, the oldest house in the Empire headed by Dmitri Romanov who dreams of becoming Tsar himself one day soon. It has a great mix of comedy and action and has a lot of dramatic weight to it as well. It's been going for 14 years in 2000AD and, while it doesn't run in real time like Judge Dredd, it does progress so that, as of the latest story about 11 years have passed, It's actually a story I've grown up with, which is why I've dedicated twice the word count to it than the other recommendations.