What should be in my "ultimate" collection of graphic novels?

[Crisspin]

I'll add the Lucifer series by Mike Carrey .. Excellent stuff.

The recent Daredevil run by Brian Michael Bendis was excellent, as well as the classic Frank Miller story.

Suprised nobody mentioned Batman Hush, one benefit is its short.

I'll also second Fables.

 

[Robertbert]

Lone...It's a Dark Horse graphic novel written by Stuart Moore who's currently writing Firestorm for DC...It's really cool...Gunfighters, Zombies and Aliens..How cool ...

 

[Nesacat]

I'll second Fables as well as the Lucifer series.

There's also the Books of Magic series, which is well done and like Lucifer, a spin off from Neil Gaiman's Sandman and Books of Magic graphic novels.

 

[Thadlerian]

Thought I'd drop a good word on Maus by Art Spiegelman altough I'm aware that it may not be to everybody's tastes regarding what some consider graphic novels.

Most definitely agree! Maus is an important story, a break off from superheroes and strange stuff.

 

[Nesacat]

A Chance For Sunshine by Jimmy Liao. This is not an SFF graphic novel but it's a truly lovely one.

A Chance of Sunshine tells the story of two neighbours who go through life not knowing of each others's existence. They're content to live solitary lives, one with his music, the other with her writing. When the two meet quite by chance, their lives change irrevocably, although fate may contrive to keep them apart; perhaps...

A Chance of Sunshine reads not so much as a narrative, but as a poem. "He turns right. She turns left." It's simple a perfect match for the art. "The rain is colder now. The streets are louder." One nice touch is that at the top of each page is a weather forecast which mirrors the movement of the story. "He plays music in his head, and she loses herself in her words." Watching their lives change when they meet, and are then separated, is almost agonisingly frustrating as Liao does a good job at portraying their despair at having met the perfect person only to perhaps lose them.

Liao's art is a real joy to look at. His watercolors bleed across the page; storm clouds look truly threatening, and the blue of a clear sky is all the more inviting. Liao doesn't waste a single line and his dream sequences are whimsically alluring; with ladders ascending and descending everywhere, and bridges stretching across expanses of nothingness.

 

[world in progress]

If you like Miller and Moore:

V for Vendetta - Moore/Lloyd
Sandman - Gaiman/various
Powers - Bendis/Oeming
League of Extraordinary Gentlemen - Moore/O'Neill
Miracleman - Moore and Gaiman/various
Batman: Year 1 - Miller/Mazuchelli
Daredevil - Miller's runs from the 80s
Elektra: Assassin - Miller/Sienkiewicz
Superman: Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow - Moore/Swan

Other good books include:

Y The Last Man - Vaughn/various
Grendel - Wagner (the earlier titles are the ones I'm familiar with)
Eagle: The Making of an Asian-American President - Kaiji Kawaguchi
100 Bullets: Azzarello/Risso
Sleeper: Brubaker/Phillips

Some of these have a similar noirish tone to the books in your collection, eg: 100 Bullets, some of the Grendel books, Sleeper.

Others are just damn engrossing, such as Y and Eagle.

 

[world in progress]

Thought I'd drop a good word on Maus by Art Spiegelman altough I'm aware that it may not be to everybody's tastes regarding what some consider graphic novels.

I'm lukewarm towards Maus. It's well written and produced, but perhaps a bit over-rated. It did a lot to put comics on the map as "respectable literature" though.

The best "funny animal" book I've read recently was We3 by Morrison and Quitely... though the animals aren't so much funny as they are vicious and sympathetic.

If you like Maus you may like some of the other less super-heroey comics like the Palomar stories by Hernandez, or American Splendour by Pekar.

 

[Roboripper]

I can't agree more about Maus, everyone should read it at least once.

From Hell is a must. Moore and Campbell created the best fictional account of the Jack the Ripper murders there has and will ever be IMO, even if it is based on a rather dodgy theory. The art is superb and the decision to use black and white was justified. In colour, the gore would have been far too much.

If you want to read something funny and weird you should definitely pick up one (all) of the Lenore tp's by Roman Dirge. Seriously laugh out loud funny and bat-sh** crazy all rolled into one cute little dead girl package!

Ghost World is also worth a read, but really only if you enjoy Daria (it's got a similar perspective).

Superman The Man of Steel Volume 1 by John Byrne needs to be there. It's simply the best version of Superman's origin in comic book form. Of course if you get that then Batman: Year One needs to be your follow up purchase, just so you have the Post Crisis origins of both of DC's big hitters.

 

[Wolfeborn]

Think all my favs have already been mentioned, if your not sure about getting something try checking out local library as They tend to have a whole bunch these days I know mine does. especially stuff like sandman and batman, doubt youll find sin city as a bit too adult. but all the other major works are there. if you cant find something you can also order it to see if ya like it. uk libraries have gotten so much better recently.

 

[Barristan]

I agree with all the above, but suggest you add Stray Toasters by Bill Sienkiewicz.

 

[Marky Lazer]

Frank Miller. Even his Batman stuff, and I hate Batman.

 

[Cycodave]

'Button Man - The Killing Game' by John Wagner and Arthur Ranson, published by Rebellion. Excellent story, great art, definately in my top 10 g/novels

Cycodave

 

[prayerrun]

I'd say that " The Death and Life of Superman " is pretty good. (it better be cause it's the only one I have.

 

[Nesacat]

The Last Temptation by Neil Gaiman; illustrated in black & white by Michael Zulli.

From Publishers Weekly
A spooky collaboration between novelist and comics writer Gaiman and creepy shock rocker Cooper, this is the story of Steven, a boy with many fears: girls, ghost stories and growing up among them. On a dare, he steps into an odd theater and meets a mysterious, top-hatted showman, an Alice Cooper-like figure (complete with dark eye-circles) who offers him a way to avoid his fears by simply giving up his "potential" and staying forever in a dreamy netherworld of spirits and wraiths. And after encountering Mercy, a beautiful ticket-taker in the ghostly theater, Steven gives the offer serious consideration. Cooper is the inspiration for the Grand Guignol of this demonic theater, a chilling metaphor for the seductive allure of complacency and indolence. Gaiman's story is a whimsical horror tale about confronting the fears within, and Zulli's black-and-white illustrations have a dark, emotive line, presented in a brownish, bloodlike hue that makes even a mundane, autumnal street scene seem eerie and foreboding.

 

[Sonic_Siddhartha]

Frank Miller Daredevil Visionaries Vol. 2 and 3 (Elektra Saga and such)
Daredevil:Born Again

THE WALKING DEAD (ALL VOLUMES!) Probably the best written comicbook out at the moment.

 

[severian83]

My all-time favourites (not being an comics expert in any way, mind):

From Hell
Watchmen
The Crow
Sinister Dexter (Can't remember the titles of the graphic novels, but they've always been my favourites from 2000ad)
Dark Knight Returns

 

[C. Craig R. McNeil]

The entire Sandman series is a must. This is probably the most original and downright brilliant writing/ comic art ever.
Another thumbs up for V for Vendetta.
I also highly recommend the Charley's War series by Pat Mills and Joe Colquhoun. Very powerful writing and some of the best comic art/ illustration ever.
The Bone series is very good. You can get all 10 graphic novels combined into one just one. Innovative, funny and a good read.
Arkham Asylum is an excellent Batman story well worth looking at as well.
For a bit of light reading I'd check out anything than emanates from 2000AD. The stories and art are always to high standards and criminally under rated by American fixated enthusiasts.

 

[Cycodave]

Here here, Craig!!

 

[Steve Jordan]

Any "ultimate collection" of graphic novels should include some Manga, too! I'd recommend Akira, although that's a lot of books. Another good one, only 10 books, is 2001 Nights. Others (more standalone) would include Ghost In The Shell, Appleseed and Black Magic.

Check out the Manga thread for more.

 

[TheGuyverUnit]

As I am mostly into Batman I would say anything Batman, but I remember a great character from long ago in the Star Wars comics called Deathlok, but I do not know if there were any graphic novels on this character. I just did a search on google and it appears that there is to be a movie on this character so if that happens then the release of a graphic novel should be in the pipeline. I will be looking out for this myself if it happens as I thought Deathlok was brilliant, and the micronauts and silver surfer and yes I have kicked myself a million times for trashing my Star Wars comics. These are the British comics I do not know what american comics carried as second stories.