Last few i’ve read I thought were good
The Filth, by Grant Morrison & Chris Weston
Tupelo, by I can’t remember because I borrowed it off garius
Top 10 vols 1 & 2, by Alan Moore/Gene Ha/Zander Cannon.
The latest Sandman
I’d reccomend Popbot and Spookhouse vol 1 also.
Now, which of you knowledgeable Comic heads want to tell me why Earth X is out of print? I wanted to buy it, and I can’t get it anywhere.
If you’re not limiting yourself to current stuff, I’ll put in my usual plug for:
The Maxx, Surreal and trippy deconstructionist superhero with fantastic art, funny dialogue and psychological catharsis.
(The early half of the series is collected in a few TPBs, I don’t know about the latter parts.)
There are 3 Maxx TPB’s last time I looked, gonzoron. I thought that was the whole thing. No? Anyway, I do know that the plan is to trade the whole series, however many volumes that is.
I should have mentioned Grant Morrison’s incredible The Invisibles. That’s a very complex and difficult comic, though, and I woundn’t tackle it right away.
Speaking of Morrison (who can do no wrong in my book), if you ever followed X-Men in the glory days ('70’s, '80’s), you must read his run on New X-Men, which has been traded in 7 volumes. Transcendant; they covered the field so well that I can’t see myself ever reading a new X-Men comic. Careful, though – the book suffered from poor art during the middle of the run. Also, whatever you do, don’t read the issues that immediately follow, which either made a direct effort to erase everything Morrison did or were written by people who never actually read Morrison’s issues.
–Cliffy
If they got oldies, or reprints thereof, there’s nothing better in comic art than the Uncle Scrooge comics drawn by Carl Barks. (Be sure to get the Barks’ ones, of course, accept no substitutions.) They’ve been reprinted, I think by Gladstone.
The Barks stuff is hard to find at reading prices. Gemstone (IIRC) has The Carl Barks Library, but like the EC Library, it’s a super-high-quality version (of concommitant expense) meant for the conoisseur, not the casual fan. Some volumes may also be out of print.
Gladstone used to have the Disney license, which included Barks reprints, but they lost it years ago. You can still find old Gladstone stuff in back-issue bins and at shows, but you have to hunt for it.
Gemstone (no relation to Gladstone that I know of) has the Disney license now, after several years where there were no regularly-published Mickey/Donald/Scrooge comics in the U.S. (Terrible timing – this was at the same time that all the kids who had been fans of the Duck Tales tv show, which drew heavily from Barks’s work, were old enough to spend money on comics.) Some of Gemstone’s stuff is newly-created material which, I’m told, isn’t very good. They also put out monthly titles “Walt Disney’s Comics and Stories” and “Uncle Scrooge” which reprint work from throughout the history of Disney comics, including a lot of Barks, Don Roosa (very popular in Europe), and others, but recolors them, much to the chagrin of long-time fans.
–Cliffy
There are 35 issues (plus a Wizard 1/2 issue). I don’t think 3 trades covers that. What part of the story does it go up to? I’m guessing Issue 20 where most of the first story arc gets wrapped up. (Is there a part that says “suddenly, 10 years later”?) There were plans recently to reprint the whole think in one hardcover, but I don’t know if that’s still planned. Haven’t heard anything on it lately.
I haven’t read the Maxx trades, I’ve just seen 'em.
–Cliffy
BTW, I heard today that The Maxx is supposed to be six volumes in total, of which half have been released so far.
–Cliffy
*Preacher * by Garth Ennis is a rolicking, hellraising good time. A Texas preacher named Jesse Custer sets out on a crusade to find God and make the bastard pay for his crimes, joined by his assassin girlfriend, Tulip, and his best friend Cassidy, a 1000-year-old Irish vampire.
*Kabuki * by David Mack would be astonishing simply due to the art, never mind the beautiful prose and storyline.
Just took a look at the Maxx TPB’s in the store the other day. I was right, they cover the whole first story arc. The second arc had some really great stuff in it, but kinda spun apart as Sam (the creator) lost interest. So it’s not surprising that they stopped there. I hope they do come out with the full set, it would be much easier to loan out than my individual issues.
I don’t think this was mentioned in this thread, but Joss Whedon is writing * Astonishing X-men*. It features Beast, Wolverine, Kitty Pryde, and other older X-men. It’s up to issue 5 but you can buy reprints of the first 3. I’ve read it and I think it’s pretty good. Decidely for older readers.
96, actually.