# Comic book characters' best trade paperbacks **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 12, 2003, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comic-book-characters-best-trade-paperbacks/212921 "2003-11-12T22:36:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Daniel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Daniel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Daniel)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2003, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comic-book-characters-best-trade-paperbacks/212921/1 "2003-11-12T22:36:21Z")
Suppose I wanted to introduce myself to a comic book character I’d never read before, but wanted to read a whole collected story about. Which trade paperback should I pick up? It doesn’t have to be a story that tells the most about a character (or team), just a really enjoyable one. What should I read? ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2003, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comic-book-characters-best-trade-paperbacks/212921/2 "2003-11-13T00:01:31Z")
Watchmen Green Lantern: Emerald Twilight Preacher: pick one! Astro City: Life in the Big City Crisi on Infinite Earths Origin (of Wolverine) ---
**Author:** ![Queen\_of\_the\_Felines](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/b5e925/32.png) [@Queen\_of\_the\_Felines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Queen_of_the_Felines)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2003, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comic-book-characters-best-trade-paperbacks/212921/3 "2003-11-13T00:29:32Z")
Strangers in Paradise: I Dream of You ---
**Author:** ![Selkie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbce88/32.png) [@Selkie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Selkie)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2003, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comic-book-characters-best-trade-paperbacks/212921/4 "2003-11-13T01:01:56Z")
Whiteout Catwoman: Dark End of the Street Preacher: Until the End of the World Sandman: Brief Lives The Magic of Aria Courtney Crumrin & The Coven of Mystics Hellblazer: Dangerous Habits Jinx: The Definitive Collection The Return of Mr. X Queen & Country: Operation Morningstar Starman: Sins of the Father Saga of the Swamp Thing Vogelein: Clockwork Faerie Y, the Last Man: Unmanned ---
**Author:** ![Daniel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Daniel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Daniel)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2003, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comic-book-characters-best-trade-paperbacks/212921/5 "2003-11-13T12:54:43Z")
I’ve never read any Thor or Fantastic Four stories? Any good collections out there for those two? ---
**Author:** ![Mal\_Adroit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df788c/32.png) [@Mal\_Adroit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mal_Adroit)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2003, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comic-book-characters-best-trade-paperbacks/212921/6 "2003-11-13T13:12:35Z")
I’ll go for Most Obvious Response Award: Batman, _The Dark Knight Returns._ Sorry, don’t know about Thor or the FF. ---
**Author:** ![Psycho\_Pirate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Psycho\_Pirate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Psycho_Pirate)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2003, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comic-book-characters-best-trade-paperbacks/212921/7 "2003-11-13T13:25:53Z")
Doom Patrol: Crawling from the Wreckage Animal Man: Animal Man Flash (Barry Allen): The Life of Barry Allen Flash (Wally West): The Return of Barry Allen Shazam (Captain Marvel): The Power of Shazam Superman: Superman - Peace On Earth 100 Bullets: First Shot, Last Call (OK, this isn’t a ‘character’ per se, but it’s still a good read) And as for Fantastic Four and Thor? Don’t waste your time reading _Marvel_, my good man! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Menocchio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de053/32.png) [@Menocchio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Menocchio)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2003, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comic-book-characters-best-trade-paperbacks/212921/8 "2003-11-13T14:25:22Z")
Jack Kirby’s seminal Fourth World Opus is avialiable in TPB (In three volumes, New Gods, Mister Miracle (my fave), and Forever People). Pick it up. ---
**Author:** ![Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hey_It_s_That_Guy)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2003, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comic-book-characters-best-trade-paperbacks/212921/9 "2003-11-13T14:29:14Z")
If you want to read Fantastic Four, I recommend the Masterworks TPBs by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby (starting with issue #1, from back in 1961). Barnes and Noble has recently been carrying affordable TPB editions of the Masterworks, which were usually expensive hardcover editions. For something more recent, I know at least one person who loved the Imaginauts TPB by Mark Waid and Mike Wieringo (the first run by the current writer and artist). But other than that, you can’t go wrong with **Selkie** ’s list. ---
**Author:** ![JThunder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e95f7d/32.png) [@JThunder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JThunder)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2003, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comic-book-characters-best-trade-paperbacks/212921/10 "2003-11-13T20:18:59Z")
Green Lantern/Green Arrow: Hard Travelling Heroes. Both volumes. ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2003, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comic-book-characters-best-trade-paperbacks/212921/11 "2003-11-13T22:31:05Z")
Anything with the words “Astro City” in the title. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Cliffy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/59ef9b/32.png) [@Cliffy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cliffy)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2003, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comic-book-characters-best-trade-paperbacks/212921/12 "2003-11-14T15:11:12Z")
I disagree with **Selkie** about Sandman. Season of Mists (vol. 4) is the one to read if you’re not sure you want to read the whole Sandman story (which is in 10 volumes). Not only is it really excellent, it doesn’t require you to know much about the characters beforehand. While Brief Lives is unarguably fantastic, it’s the wrong volume for your first taste of Sandman. It depends rather heavily on an understanding of the characters and things that have happened in the past. Moreover, it’s pretty much the climax of the whole Sandman story and will partially spoil your enjoyment of the earlier volumes, should you choose to go back and read the whole thing (which you probably will, because Sandman is that good). –Cliffy ---
**Author:** ![Cliffy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/59ef9b/32.png) [@Cliffy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cliffy)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2003, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comic-book-characters-best-trade-paperbacks/212921/13 "2003-11-14T15:14:53Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Menocchio \* > \*\*Jack Kirby’s seminal Fourth World Opus is avialiable in TPB (In three volumes, New Gods, Mister Miracle (my fave), and Forever People). Pick it up. \*\* Actually there are more volumes out now. The original 1970’s runs of New Gods and Forever People were small enough to fit in one volume, but Mr. Miracle’s book lasted longer. The last half of the series is reprinted in a fourth volume called “Jack Kirby’s Fourth World.” In addition to the thee titles Kirby created for his the Fourth World, he also took over “Superman’s Pal Jimmy Olsen” at the time and made it part of the Fourth World saga. That’s being reprinted as well – in color! – and the first volume came out a couple months ago. (I think there’s one more on the way.) –Cliffy ---
**Author:** ![One\_And\_Only\_Wanderers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/838e76/32.png) [@One\_And\_Only\_Wanderers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/One_And_Only_Wanderers)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2003, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comic-book-characters-best-trade-paperbacks/212921/14 "2003-11-14T15:15:58Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Mr. Blue Sky \* > \*\*Watchmen > Green Lantern: Emerald Twilight > Preacher: pick one! > Astro City: Life in the Big City > Crisi on Infinite Earths > Origin (of Wolverine) \*\* Just finished Crisis yesterday. Thought it was truly awful. just my opinion of course