Hello /co/. I want to start reading cape comics, and for that i need your help. Not asking for starting points i already know i'm getting into some seriously convoluted shit. So instead i will ask you: what is your favorite character or team book and who do you think wrote the definitive run?
A friend of mine already recommended me these:
>Uncanny X-men by Claremont
>Moon Knight by Moench
>Batman by Morrison
>X-Factor by Peter David
>Daredevil by Frank Miller
>Captain America by Brubaker
And of course pic related. I don't really have anything especific in mind, i'm into magic, space, crime, etc. What else should i read?
>>83042955
Start with your pic related. Maybe read Legends first, and then read Justice League [International] simultaneously with Suicide Squad.
You're actually not getting into anything convoluted at all.
If you over-stress and autize everything, yeah, but you don't need to worry about that.
Just do what you're doing now, looking for good runs by creative teams. The name of the game is creators, not characters.
Do you specifically want to get into Marvel/DC cape comics, or do you have an interest in the medium as a whole? It's just as wide and versatile as any.
This isn't to say that cape comics can't be good, plenty of my favorite reads are decisively cape, just wondering before I spit some recs. Crime, space and magic, right? Any more genres/story types you're interested in?
>>83043444
To be honest i'll read anything you guys recommend me, cape or not, i'm still trying to find which genres i prefer.
>>83042955
All good choices there.
>I'm into magic, space, crime, etc.
Ostrander's Spectre series. Unfortunately only the first two volumes have been collected as trades by DC because that department is staffed by incompetent fuckwads, but it's still one of my single favorite comic runs of all time and does an incredible job of exploring some heavy theological themes in a way that's not only consistent with the classic Judeo-Christian origins of theodicy (the "problem of evil") but also provides a lot of insight into the magic/mystical side of the DCU in an unexpected way.
>>83042955
All of those suggestions are reasonable. The thing to remember is you're only ever reading one comic, right? There is an appreciation to be had in continuity and seeing how characters change under different writers and artists, but concentrating on specific runs like you're doing is the right thing to do.
If you want to get the whole historical experience of something then you can start at the beginning, but it's not necessary.
Mark Waid's Flash is pretty definitive but Baron's isn't bad either
>>>>83008734
>>83042955
all good choices but I wouldn't recommend Morrison's Batman as the introduction. Not that you'll get lost or anything but you'll appreciate it more if you are familiar with Batman.
He references a lot of shit over Batman's decades of stories. Hell Damian's inception came from a graphic novel that was written like 20 years ago.
Batman Year One is largely considered to be the definitive origin story.
the man who laughs
Batman Gothic
Batman: Venom
Batman Prey
Killing Joke
DC also has a bunch of collections focused on certain writers&artists or just villains.
JSA by Robinson and Johns is pretty cool too
>>83042955
My personal favourite runs of all time are Geoff Johns' JSA (top fav), Lee/Kirby's Fantastic Four, Ostrander's Spectre and Morrison's Animal Man. Though, Lee/Kirby's Fantastic Four and Morrison's Animal Man can seem a little jarring, FF because it really doesn't take itself seriously, but it's pretty hilarious though (and if you don't like that then you can check out Byrne and Hickman's runs), and Morrison plays into a postmodern narrative with his Animal Man.
Some favorites of mine:
Starman
Madman
Nexus
Badger
Alien Legion
Jonah Hex
Planetary
X-Men by Claremont
Excalibur by Claremont/Davis and Davis on his own. Skip Lobdell.
Warlord
Conan
Red Sonja volume 1
Empowered
>>83042955
>magic
Ostrander's Spectre
Doctor Strand and Doctor Doom - Triumph and Torment
Dini's Zatanna
Doctor 13 - Architecture and Morality
The Books of Magic
Hellblazer
>space
Johns' Green Lantern
Green Lantern Corps (the volume that ran alongside Johns' run)
Silver Surfer Requiem
>crime
Ennis' Punisher
Gerber's Foolkiller
maybe Dixon's Punisher
>>83042955
Are you just getting into comics or do you have any experience with non-superhero stuff?
>>83043687
Okay, General recs then? I promise you you'll find stuff you'll like in here.
I'm gonna use the writer's name to denote the run even though in a lot of these, the artists are just as important to the quality of the work. And you can find the specific issue numbers/reading orders and whatnot through Google just fine.
Alan Moore's Swamp Thing
Mike Mignola's Hellboy (Honestly the whole universe here, with BPRD, Abe Sapien, etc, etc)
Brandon Graham's Prophet
Grant Morrison's Animal Man
Grant Morrison's Doom Patrol
Grant Morrison's Flex Mentallo
Grant Morrison's The Filth
Grant Morrison's Invisibles
Grant Morrison's JLA
Grant Morrison's New X-Men
Grant Morrison's (I like him a lot) Seven Soldiers of Victory
Peter Milligan's Shade, the Changing Man
Peter Milligan's Enigma
Peter Milligan's X-Statix
Literally anything Peter Milligan & Brendan McCarthy ever did together
Neil Gaiman's The Sandman
Mike Carey's Lucifer
Steven Seagle & Matt Wagner's Sandman Mystery Theatre
Steven Seagle's House of Secrets
John Ostrander's The Spectre
James Robinson's Starman
Geoff Johns' JSA
Jack Kirby's Fourth World saga (New Gods)
Walt Simonson's Thor
Dave Sim's Cerebus
Michel Fiffe's COPRA
Matt Kindt's Mind MGMT
Brian Azzarello & Eduardo Risso's 100 Bullets
Garth Ennis' Preacher
Garth Ennis' Hitman
Garth Ennis' Punisher MAX
Garth Ennis' Fury MAX
Steranko's SHIELD
Steve Gerber's Man-Thing
Steve Gerber's Howard the Duck
Kurt Busiek's Conan
Fred Van Lente's Archer & Armstrong
Keith Giffen's Legion of Super-Heroes
Howard Chaykin's Twilight
Keith Giffen & Alan Grant's Lobo (anything with this character & one of these two on it is worth it)
Simon Spurrier's X-Men Legacy
I could go on, but I don't want to flood you with too much.
Google some of that stuff, see what looks interesting to you, and feel free to ask me about any of it. I'll be checking back in this thread occasionally. I take recommending comics seriously, haha. But seriously, welcome to comics, hope I helped some.
>>83043221
>>83043782
>>83043844
>>83044095
>>83044118
>>83044369
>>83044376
>>83044397
>>83044562
Thanks a lot!
>>83044443
I read a lot of Dark Horse and Image
If you want some cape comedies, check out these:
Giffen/DeMatteis/Maguire's Justice League (usually referred to as JLI)
Badger
Also check these random things out because they're awesome:
All Star Superman
Morrison's Animal Man
Morrison's Doom Patrol
Morrison's JLA
Superman Adventures
The Dark Knight Returns
Batman Year One
Miller's Daredevil
Johns' JSA
Johns' Green Lantern
Johns' Action Comics
Kingdom Come
Ennis' Punisher
Silver Surfer Requiem
Nexus
Fury MAX My War Gone By
Simonson's Thor
Hitman
Moore's Swamp Thing
Planetary
Batman The Killing Joke
Batman Mad Love
>>83044376
>Warlord
Oh god yes I love this series. It's an unsung classic.
>>83044397
>Ennis' Punisher
>Gerber's Foolkiller
>maybe Dixon's Punisher
Throw Ennis' Hitman on that list too.
>>83045523
I'd hurt things for a complete Foolkiller
You seem like you know this already, but unless you're looking to read a specific run, don't worry too much about continuity. If you think something looks good, just pick it up and read it.
Green Arrow Year One
JLA by Morrison
Justice Society of America by Johns
New 52 Aquaman by Johns
I personally really liked Legion Lost by Abnett, not sure of the general opinion of it on /co/ but I thought it was good.
I don't read much Marvel, but I started Ultimate Spider-Man recently and I'm enjoying that.
Silver Surfer: Requiem
Joe Kelly's Deadpool
Marvel Knights: Spider-Man
Hulk: Season One
Ultimate Spider-Man
Marvel Adventures Spider-Man
Ditko Lee Spider-Man
Punisher: MAX
Daredevil: Born Again
Daredevil - Bendis Run
Spider-Man: Kraven's Last Hunt
Ghost Rider: Trail of Tears
Road to Damnation
Alias
Daredevil: End of Days
Supreme Power
Ultimate Human
Ultimates 1-2
Thor: Vikings
Thor: Walter Simonson Run
Thor: JMS Run
O'Neill's Iron Man
Punisher Rucka Run
Future Imperfect
Death of Captain Marvel
X-Men: God Loves Man Kills
X-Men: Dark Phoenix Saga
Old Man Logan
New Mutants by Sienkewicz
X-Force by Yost - Remender
Messiah Saga
Conway Spider-Man Run
Peter David Hulk Run
Elektra: Assassin
Marvel Knights Sentry
Age of Sentry
Eternals
Infinity Quest
Infinity Gauntlet
1985
War of the Kings
Annihiliation
Conquest
Brubaker Cap
Hawkguy
Hawkeye vol 1
Kooky Quartet Avengers
Thunderbolts
Busiek Avengers
Hickman FF
Lee Kirby FF
Byrne FF
Byrne She Hulk
DnA GoTG
Planet Hulk
Fallen Son
Nextwave
Runaways
Exiles
Fraction Iron Man
Fraction Iron Fist
Extremis
Demon in a Bottle
Secret Warriors
Steranko Shield and Nick Fury
Roger Stern Avengers
Bendisvengers
Roger Stern Cap
Gruenwald Cap (Essential Cap)
Waid Cap
Age of Apoc
DoFP
Onslaught
Secret Wars
Thanos Imperative
Earth X
Immortal Iron Fist
Iron Man: Extremis
Iron Man: Armor Wars
Spencer's Superior Foes of Spider-man
Gerber's Howard the Duck
>>83045668
Meant Thanos Quest, fuck.
>>83045591
I saw an ad for a Foolkiller figure and got super excited and then saw it was a recolored Deadpool. worst feeling ever
>>83042955
You should read Solo. It's an anthology that showcases fantastic singular issues by a range of different artists.
>>83044562
>Steve Gerber's Man-Thing
>Steve Gerber's Howard the Duck
What about his Defenders?
>>83044376
no mention of Ka-Zar?
also, which series of Jonah Hex?
>>83046112
>Don't tread on me
Hahahaha, oh gosh, wow.
Is there any chance for a Comple Collection, if there isn't one already?
Will Eisner's A Contract With God
>>83046193
>>83046193
Damn near everything Jonah Hex has been in is worth reading one way or another.
As a general rule, Gray/Palmiotti's stuff is the best. Check out No Way Back for a good standalone introduction.
>>83046193
>which series of Jonah Hex?
All of them. Even the short lived Mad Max ripoff.
>>83046825
As far as I can tell there's just the Essential and Masterpiece books.
>>83046193
What would you rec for Ka-Zar? I remember reading a run where he went to NY and fought Rhino back in the 90's, but i know nothing about him.
>>83049727
He's basically Tarzan, but with dinosaurs.
>>83049759
Any specific run or should i try it all?
>>83050374
The 80s series Ka-Zar the Savage was his best book.
