Around 2005 I slowly stopped reading comics regularly. Up until then I had been a pretty avid reader. I loved both independent comics and superhero stuff. I read most of the x books, Spider-Man, iron man, Batman (still my favorite) Green Arrow, and Green Lantern but was also big into indy press and creator owned books.
Every now and then I want to dive back into comics, but I have no time for serialized stories. I really only want to read trade paper back (or the digital equivalent) collections, but because I haven’t payed much attention at all to comics in the past 10 years I no longer have any idea where to start.
What do you recommend? Good story driven collections, doesn’t have to be superheroes, that are worth picking up. What’s the best of the last 10 years?
Well…The Boys is staggeringly violent and profane ( it was written by Garth Ennis of Preacher fame ), but a very cohesive story about what happens when you get a bunch of chemically created super-heroes under government regulation and corporate control. It has much of the strengths and weaknesses of Ennis, including his very rough and dirty sense of humor. If you couldn’t stand Preacher, probably best avoided. It is however fully complete.
Sweet Tooth is a very strange but compelling post-apocalyptic tale, featuring your standard mass plague and some very non-standard results, including mysterious human-animal hybrids. Also now fully complete.
The Sword is a Luna brothers project, about a vengeful young woman with an invincible weapon arrayed against several sibling elemental gods in the modern world. Much more thoughtful than it sounds, though there is certainly action a-plenty.
That’s all that is hitting my brain at the moment that are finished, complete stories with real quality post-2005. But I’m sure I’m missing any number.
Started to mention Alias, but on checking that is just pre-2005. Still if you never read that one, check it out. Female detective in the Marvel universe, with some real issues.
I’ve enjoyed The Superior Spider-Man series by Dan Slott. The premise is that Otto Octavius took over Peter Parker’s body and his role as Spider-Man. Rather than commit crime, he’s trying to prove that he’s the better crime-fighter.
It’s being made as a TV series with Krysten Ritter playing Jessica Jones.
I’ve been enjoying Rat Queens lately. The second collection was just released.
FreakAngels was a good series that ran from 2008 to 2011. The entire series was available online for free before being published in book form. And I see the site is still up.
Based on the titles you listed as favorites, you’d probably love the revival of The Brave and the Bold. I know I did. Heck, Batman and Green Lantern were featured players in the first story arc!
That does look sort of up my alley. As does the Garth Ennis work mentioned above. I read a lot of Alias when it first came out but that was right around when I stopped paying attention. I loved Bendis though and read everything of his I could find. I was also a big Grant Morrison and Warren Ellis fan and I manage to read all of Cerebus, but by the end it was mostly out of stubbornness.
Saga is amazing and is being collected (I believe there are… four trades now?) Ongoing, though. But so good!
Ms Marvel is also really good so far, and while my husband has been buying me issues (normally I am not an issues girl but he picks them up when he gets his stuff) there have been a few trades out. The first one is… I guess you’d say exceptionally exceptional? It’s soo good and it’s diverse and representational in such a good way. If I had a little girl it would be Kamala Kahn all day long.
I’ve read the first volume of both Rat Queens and the new Ms. Marvel and I’ll agree they are worth checking out. Ms. Marvel reminded me that I rather liked the first dozen issues of the newer Power Girl series with Jimmy Palmiotti and Amanda Connor, collected here.