I have to pick 4 of the following list.
Watchmen
V for Vendetta
The League of Extroardinary Gentlemen, volume 1
300
Hellboy: Seed of Destruction
Preacher: Gone to Texas
Captain Marvel: Nothing To Lose
Watchmen and V for Vendetta are the two easy choices. Both are fabulous, classic works.
Gone to Texas isn’t my favorite of the Preacher volumes, but since it is the first of a terrific, can’t-put-it-down series, I’d say to include that one.
Most people love LoEG. I don’t, but recognize I’m in the extreme minority on that one. Ditto the Hellboy volume. I’d say to select one of those as your fourth volume, because the majority opinion is better on those than on the remainder of your list.
Out of curiosity, how and why are you in a position to choose amongst those specific TPBs? Is this some sort of eBay auction lot where you choose X number of titles off a list?
Those are simply some selections from my required reading/read and must own a copy of list. I, being a poor teenager, can only spare the money for four of them right now.
Go with the League, but try the Captain Marvel one, too.
I liked League and Watchmen. Preacher is fun, but be warned; the last couple of books suck real bad and may taint the entire series for you.
Neil Gaimon’s ‘Sandman’.
Oh, and the one’s that I’m writing if they every get finished and published. Unless you’re into collecting first editions etc., the web is full radical new toons.
Sorry about the typos. I just got a new laptop and the keyboard and internal mouse are configured differently than on my old machine…
I’ve read most of Sandman. I’m just going to use the library to read Sandman, thanks - it’s good, but not something that I’m willing to invest a large amount of money in - it gets a bit caught up in pointless tangents at times, it has some really awkward and stupid moments (Morpheus’ “competition” with that demon in the bar in hell? I mean, come on!) and just isn’t entertaining at points. It’s not bad, but it’s not excellent.
I love the hell out of Delerium, though.
Really? I loved the way the series ended. From the beginning, I was expecting it to suck, because how do you come up with a satisfying resolution for a story like that? Wonder of wonders, Garth Ennis found a way. Certainly, by the end of the series, it’s no longer the same story it was at the beginning, but I’d hardly call that a bad thing.
I’d say Watchmen, without a doubt. V is good, but on a limited budget, there are better works out there. On the other hand, it’s self contained. No sequels to it, so it’s a much smaller investment. League is better, and the whole thing is only two TPBs (Moore isn’t working on the title anymore, correct?) so you won’t end up having to choose between finding out how it ends and eating. 300 I haven’t read. Hellboy I found to be decent, but not nearly as good as everyone says. Preacher is fantastic, but the whole thing runs to almost a dozen volumes, which is a hefty chunk of cash. Captain Marvel is another I’ve never read.
[QUOTE=Miller]
…but on a limited budget, there are better works out there.QUOTE]
Elaborate?
So you’re not aware that Gaiman drew directly on a body of shamanistic tradition dating back to the Stone Age for that one?
To add irons to the fire, you might try:
Lucifer - an offshoot of the Sandman universe, but you don’t need to have read any of Sandman except for Season of Mists to understand it. The basic premise is that Lucifer sets out to create his own universe wthout the flaws of the first Creation. Four volumes, series still ongoing.
Y: The Last Man - the tale of how every male creature on Earth suddenly dies, except for history graduate and amateur escapologist Yorick Brown and his pet monkey. Two volumes, series ongoing.
Top 10 - Alan Moore’s series about police work in a city where everyone is a superpowered being (including the mice). Two volumes, series concluded (though there is a five part miniseries about to wrap up).
Transmetropolitan, by Warren Ellis (first book: Back on the Streets)
The Invisibles, by Grant Morrison (first book: You Say You Want a Revolution. Warning, the art in the first few books is very, very bad. Story is amazing, though.)
Tom Strong, by Alan Moore (first book: Tom Strong, Vol. 1)
Astro City, by Kurt Busiek (any order. There’s no over all story arc, and each TPB is self-contained)
Camelot 3000, by Mike Barr (one volume)
Promethea, by Alan Moore (first book: Promethea Vol. 1.)
Rising Stars, by Michael Straczynski (first book: Born in Fire)
No, I wasn’t - but just because it’s an ancient shamanistic tradition, it doesn’t mean that it’s good material for a comic book. Thanks for your suggestions.
I guess you could say Sandman is different. It’s more literary. I hope to write stories that are fast-paced, a little sexy and entertaining with absolutely no boring bits. Can’t talk about the plot here unfortunately.
This is the appeal for me. Entertainment, pacing are paramount in a comic book, but I’ve got to have substance holding it all up.
Until about three years ago, I taught kids cartooning at a local community centre. I have been drawing cartoons as a hobby for years and worked in graphic arts for a while. It didn’t occur to me to write graphic novels until recently. I’m having a blast.
By the way, excellent reading suggestions. I have some catching up to do.
Okay, I’m pretty much settled on Watchmen, Hellboy, and The League of Extroardinary Gentlemen. But for the last, I really can’t decide. Help!
Very funny.
Top 10 sounds good, V for Vendetta sounds good, Transmetropolitan sounds good, lots of volumes of Astro City sound good. Agh.
FYI League of Extraordinary is VERY LITTLE like the movie. It isn’t warm or wholesome. For example: The Invisible Man rapes women at a private school. Just dropping a bit of good news 
Watchmen is kinda dry if you ask me. It’s fun to analyze the characters though.
Preacher! PREACHER I SAY!
Seriously though, this is my favorite comic series of all time, and the whole warped saga of Jesse Custer gets started in Gone to Texas. Jesse Custer is a hellion of a Texas preacher with an assassin girlfriend named Tulip and a best friend, Cassidy, who’s a 100-year-old Irish vampire. Then there’s the Saint of Killers and his limitless guns and my boy, Herr Starr, whose depraved sexual practices are beyond explanation. Not to mention the inbred, feces-flinging last descendants of Christ; a dude named Arseface; a cult of bored Goth teenagers and their “pet” vampire; and self-cannibalism. What more do you want?!