Comic book collecting: what to get?

[Alucard]

I didn't know where to place this topic discussion so I decided to plop it into this area.

I am beseeching fellow forumites in this thread to assist me with this matter. As of late I have thought about starting my own comic or should rather state graphic novel collection.

As a kid growing up I was not allowed to read comics from both the marvel and dc universe and my only source material at the time were the shows like the batman animated series, superman animated series, justice league and unlimited, etc.

My only source of knowledge now is the internet.

I'm fairly knowledgeable on both the marvel and dc universe but not as much as perhaps you guys are.

And so I would like assistance in appealing on what comic books I should actually own.
The main comics I wish to collect on are: Iron Man, Avengers, and Batman.

What comic books would you recommend I look at?

I know Marvel has numerous storylines and universes unlike DC that stays rather consistent despite the Infinite Crisis. Still a bit miffed they killed off the original Batman.

So guys any suggestions at all?

 

[@Li3n]

Still a bit miffed they killed off the original Batman.

Anyone that has any idea what Darkseid's powers are would have told you they never did. And they even had that bat cave-drawing at the end of FC to make sure we get it.

---------- Post added at 07:49 AM ---------- Previous post was at 07:40 AM ----------

Oh, and if you want to read some classic Iron Man, go for Demon in a Bottle, Armor Wars and the Mandarin/Fin Fang Foom arc (which is what they should be using as a model for movie Mandarin).

 

[twitchmoss]

*deep breath*

here we go then.

Neil gaiman recently did a batman story 'whatever happened to the caped crusader', which is damn good, though not as classic as its namesake 'whatever happened to the man of tomorrow'. its intended as a endcap on *all* incarnations of batman, past and present.

if you're looking for a good sci-fi series, then transmetropolitan all the goddamn way. They've started re-releasing the TPBS, so keep an eye out for them.


If you're up to date on the rather convoluted DC recent-ish continuity, i reccomend the following; (this stuff is all post infinite crisis)

Geoff johns' revival of Green lantern, starting with Rebirth up to the sinestro corps war.

the blue beetle run with Jaime reyes. its just *fun*. the series got cancelled, so theres only 30 odd issues split over about 5 trades.

52. set in the 'missing year' between infinite crisis and 'one year later', and featuring a bunch of secondary characters in the DCU, like booster gold, steel, animal man, adam strange and lobo (who has become space pope to a church worshipping a three headed fish god. it makes sense in context. sort of.)

 

[@Li3n]

the blue beetle run with Jaime reyes. its just *fun*. the series got cancelled, so theres only 30 odd issues split over about 5 trades.

Jaime still gets back-ups in Boster Gold...

Oh, pick up Booster Gold, it's pretty good. And JMS Thor is great, too bad Marvel is made him leave with their upcoming cross over... and anything by Brubaker (Cap America, Daredevil, Iron Fist, Books of Doom).

 

[Covar]

My advice. Collect to read and enjoy, not to just collect. I suggest going to your comic store and picking up the latest titles of the Avengers, Iron Man, the various bat books, and maybe a couple of the most recent back issues of each. Reading comics are like watching soaps and wrestling. You'll be jumping in in the middle of a story, but stick with it and you'll be following along in no time. As you read the new stuff go ahead and pick up some trades, various things that catch your eye, older stories, whatever. This will build your working knowledge of what you're reading, and introduce you to new stuff.

So Batman is pretty easy to jump into right now with the "death" of Bruce Wayne. Batman and Robin and Batman are the two books focusing on, well Batman and Robin. Detective Comics is currently focused on Batwoman. Not my favorite character, but I've been told it's due to the fact that only Rucka can write her as not being an über-lesbian mary-sue. Rucka is writing Detective Comics so you should be good. Red Robin is about Tim Drake the former Robin, Outsiders are Batman's old superhero team (the original run is worth reading) being currently led by Alfred. There's Also Streets of Gotham and the Gotham City Sirens (Catwoman, Poison Ivy, and Harley Quinn, written by Paul Dini who was the head writer/co-creator of the various DC animated series). Finally there's my personal favorite of the bunch, Batgirl.

 

[figmentPez]

Favorites from my relatively meager collection include:

DC
Kingdom Come
Justice League: The New Frontier
Justice League: The Nail
World Without a Superman (and to a lesser extent The Return of Superman)
JLA/Titans The Technis Imperative (also a favorite of Linkara)
Batman: The Killing Joke
Batman: Cataclysm and No Man's Land Volumes 1 - 5ish... (It's six volumes but I didn't like the ending.)
Impulse: Reckless Youth

Marvel
Marvels
The Dark Phoenix Saga
Weapon X
X-men Mutations (Beast, Angel and Psylocke's transformation stories)
Spider-Man: Torment


So, out of your three favorites there is some overlap in Batman. Definitely get Cataclysm and possibly No Man's Land. The Killing Joke is fascinating, but a hard hitting read with some really brutal insanity from the Joker. Kingdom Come features Batman pretty heavily, but is an Elseworlds tale. Batman makes appearances in other books I've mentioned but nothing really special.

 

[@Li3n]

Justice League: The New Frontier

This time 10. And get the extra stuff too, like the fight between Bats and Supes...

And then watch the animated film.

 

[Alucard]

Thanks for the help guys greatly appreciate it. I just didn't know where to start.

Was a tough choice to start anywhere to state categorically.

Is The Killing Joke and Arkham Asylum decent graphic novels to get as well?

 

[drawn_inward]

Is The Killing Joke and Arkham Asylum decent graphic novels to get as well?

Yes, they're pretty good. The Long Halloween is great.

Don't kid yourself into thinking that you're going to make a boatload of cash by collecting comics. Just grab TPB or other collections.

 

[Covar]

Don't get a trade of the Killing Joke. Instead I recommend the "DC Universe: The Stories of Alan Moore" trade that they made a couple years ago if you can find it. It contains the Killing Joke as well as some of Alan Moore's other great mainstream super-hero stuff. "Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow" and "For the Man Who Has Everything" are probably my two favorite stories in there.

 

[Alucard]

Okay got it am making a list now.

I wasn't planning on making money from this set just for fun reading

 

[wana10]

when tim sale and jeph loeb team up it's gonna be good. long halloween, superman for all seasons, spidey-blue, daredevil-yellow, hulk-grey...all good stuff.
i'd also recommend superman-secret identity. awesome story of how superboy-prime should be instead of the whackjob lunatic he is.
superman, up up and away was good.
batman; madlove is awesome. not only is the main story great but it has one of my favourite two face stories ever.
jms' recent thor run was good stuff.
all star superman is amazing.
i've read a few trades of astro city and while it isn't main stream superheroes they're pretty good.
for green lantern i'd recommend at least secret origins, rebirth, and then from sinestro corps war onwards, the 3 volumes between rebirth and sinestro corps war were mainly reestablishing hal jordan's place.
dini's run on detective comics was good, kinda a whatif batman:tas was made into comics with a little more freedom. lots of quick contained fun stories.
welcome to comics, say goodbye to any cash you may have

 

[figmentPez]

I forgot to mention it earlier, but to learn more about comics I like to watch iFanboy. It's a weekly internet show and the hosts seem to know what they're talking about.

 

[Cajungal]

I miss That Nick Guy.

 

[Shegokigo]

I miss That Nick Guy.

^

:uhhuh:

 

[Cajungal]

He sure did make a lot of great recommendations when he was here... I think I'll drop him an email today.

 

[twitchmoss]

where did he go? did he leave the forum? i hope not

 

[Vagabond]

I'd suggest Marvels and Justice.

Both very solid stories, and you only need general knowledge of comic books to enjoy them.

If you know a bit more, Astonishing X-Men is the best X book out right now.

Also, Invincible Iron Man is worth a read, even though it treads heavily on the backs of big marvel events (civil war, dark reign), most of that stuff is explained within the series and doesn't take anything away from the run itself. And the covers are just so damn brilliant.

Spoiler

 

[chakz]

Here, have a list:

Bone. People who don't like bone don't have souls.

Invincible. A fresh super hero story for those who are tired of caped crusading and web slinging.

Astro city. Its awesome.

Watchmen if your into superheros and would like a story that explores the concept a bit. It is very well written but its not for everybody.

Book of magic (imagine if Neil Gaiman wrote harry potter, now imagine if harry potter was born into the dcu. Its actually nothing like harry potter but the main character looks somewhat like him)

Identity crisis. This book as actually really self contained, its more like a mystery story that takes place in the DCU. Read it, its good.

Superman BirthRight. An excellent retelling of supe's origins.

Superman: Red son. What if the soviet union got the man of tomarrow? Its very well written and contains one of the better versions of lex luthor.
Edit: I'll add more as I think of them.