What are the comic runs you can read over and over?

ChrisBeckett

Been thinking about this one recently, so I wrote about 1400 words on three of my favorite comic runs that reward return readings (Stan Lee would be proud) over at the blog. You can check out my bloviating here, if you like.

But, this is a question being posed, so I'll try to keep it short. Even with the wealth of comics available to us today, there are still those runs of comics tucked away in your longboxes that call to you on a regular basis--a mix of nostalgia, great art, and compelling storytelling that just makes you feel warm inside, like catching up with an old friend you haven't seen for years, but you fall right back into the same old habits, as if it was yesterday. This is the good stuff (however you define good). Three of the comic series that keep me coming back to re-read and enjoy are:


Sandman--the mix of horror, fantasy, ancient myth, and contemporary issues all congealed to form a series I consider a classic. Didn't hurt that the likes of Jon Muth, Michael Zulli, Colleen Doran, Mike Dringenberg, Charles Vess, and others did art for these stories.


G.I. Joe--this was the first series I collected, from #23-140, with reprints and digests for the earlier issues. Love the characters, the costumes, Snake Eyes & Storm Shadow, and the political intrigue. Larry Hama did some great work in this series, along with some great artists like Mark Bright, Herb Trimpe, Ron Wagner, Rod Whigham, and others.


Suicide Squad--this was always at the top of my pile, when it was being published, and it never disappointed. Love the concept, love the characters, love everything about it. And it still holds up, for me. John Ostrander, Kim Yale, Luke McDonnell, Karl Kesel, Geof Isherwood, John K. Snyder III, et al. created a classic.

So, what are your favorite comics to return to?

chris

CaptShazam

1. G.I. Joe was my first come book series too, I love going back and reading it.
2. Avengers - from around issue 200 to the Battle of Olympus storyline in the 280's.
3. Fables - including all its spin offs.

DoctorDoom

The Death and Return of Superman for me, as well as Knightfall.

RickM

Kamandi; FF (from virtually any point in time); Bendis' Daredevil

ChrisBeckett

Great choices, all! I'd love to keep this going and get some more "conversation" going. Maybe sharing why these runs speak to you. I'll try to bump that along. From the blog post alluded to above, my thoughts on G.I. Joe [note: most likely infused with Nostalgia&HyperboleTM]:

This was the first comic book I collected and will always be an important title because of that. I started with issue 23 of the series—“Cobra Commander Captured at last!”—and it was all engines ahead, after that one. I collected up through #140 (featuring the Transformers, by that time) and backtracked to gather all the previous issues, either through reprints or the digests available at my local bookstore, and these comics rarely disappointed.

The battle of good vs. evil and the cool costumes—and ninjas! Natch—were what initially drew me in, but it was the writing that kept me hooked. Hama crafted some great characters, and their interpersonal relationships, along with the political intrigue inherent in the concept of Cobra and its battle against this covert and “superheroic” military unit, was exciting and engaging. Though soap operatic, to a great degree, there was something more complex and more adult at work in Hama’s storytelling. Sure, scenarios may have been outlandish and overblown, but it never felt like he was writing down to his audience. There was a definite line between good and evil, in the comic, but many of the characters’ personal morality skewed toward a hazier shade of gray, which infused the stories with something missing in most of my other comics. And, most important for me, though each issue contains the requisite exposition to bring newer readers up to speed, Hama was able to deftly weave this into the dialogue in a manner that rarely felt forced and, at the very least, was lyrical, which kept the exposition from stifling one’s appreciation of the reading experience.

Finally, it should be noted that there were a stellar number of artists who worked on this series. There was the legendary Herb Trimpe, Ron Wagner and Rod Whigham (two of my favorites on the title), Marshall Rogers, Tony Salmons, Mark Bright, Geof Isherwood, and even art from Hama himself, along with memorable covers by the likes of Michael Golden and Mike Zeck. G.I. Joe has a great pedigree, and it’s a comic that, today, still holds up and excites the kid in me, when I sit down to read it.

-chris

Torchsong

So many to list here, I'll try to keep them short and sweet:

- Wolfman/Perez - New Teen Titans. The baby what turned me from comic reader to comic fanboy.
- Anything Alpha Flight (but mostly that Byrne run) - I have zero ties to Canada, but I always thought it was cool they had their own superteam.
DC Event Comics - moreso than Marvel events, anyhow. I can always sit down and read any Crisis book, Legends, Millenium, Zero Hour, War of the Gods, etc.

Mark_Engblom

Lee & Kirby's Fantastic Four - In the beginning, the gods created the Marvel Universe.

Lee & Kirby's Thor - Quite simply, the birth of comic book "epic storytelling".

John Byrne's Fantastic Four - Best thing he ever did, hands down.

Lee and Romita Sr.'s Spider-Man - The maturing and refinement of a (then) new American icon.

Moore, Bissette, and Totelben's Swamp Thing - Some truly terrifying stories with utterly unique art.

Miller's Daredevil - Still packs the same emotional power...perhaps even more as I grow older (Ben Urich speaks to me now).

Limited series I continually return to:

Moore and Gibbons' Watchmen - I try to read it every couple of years.

Waid and Ross's Kingdom Come - Never ceases to amaze me. I also try to re-read Elliot S. Maggin's KC novelization every five years or so.

I could go on and on, but these are the ones that immediately come to mind.

mphil

Englehart's Silver Surfer

Webhead

COIE- I reread that trade at least once a year

DKR - A book I never get tired of reading

Kovac Saga - Pérez's artwork is just a joy to the eye's and Shooter's story was hands down my favorite Avengers story

Anything from ASM 1-150

Hex

Kurt Busiek & Carlos Pacheco both at their best.

dubbat138

I got a few that I read every year or every other year.

1.Preacher-read the entire run once a year since it ended.
2.Animal Man-Since about 2002 I have read this entire series at least every other year.
3.HATE-Like Preacher,since this series ended I will read the entire run once a year.

kiwijase

1. "Locas". Jaime Hernandez
2. "Promethea". Alan Moore and J.H Williams
3. "Sandman". Neil Gaiman and company
4. "Cerebus". Dave Sim and Gerhard
5. The "Buddy Bradley" stories. Peter Bagge
6. "Dark Knight Returns". Frank Miller
7. "Hicksville". Dylan Horrocks
8. "Kingdom come". Mark Waid and Alex Ross
9. "Ocean". Warren Ellis and Chris Sprouse

bralinator

Kingdom Come
Dark Knight Returns
Jim Starlin on any Marvel Cosmic title
Avengers Forever
Daredevil by Frank Miller
Tomb of Dracula
Captain America War & Rememberance by John Byrne
Fantastic Four by John Byrne
Namor the Sub-Mariner by John Byrne
She-Hulk by John Byrne
She-Hulk by Dan Slott
Superman for All Seasons
Flash Gordon by Parker & Shaner
The Long Halloween
Excalibur by Alan Davis
Pretty much any Uncanny X-Men from issue 94-245
Ditko, Romita Sr, Ross Andru Era Amazing Spider-Man
Conan the Barbarian by Thomas & Buscema era (or any issues from 1-125)
Silver Surfer by Ron Lim (or any issues from 1-106)
Incredible Hulk by Peter David and Dale Keown (or any issue from 368-412)
Most of my Fireside trades

bralinator

Kingdom Come
Dark Knight Returns
Jim Starlin any Marvel Cosmic title
Avengers Forever
Tomb of Dracula
Fantastic Four by Johnny Byrne
Namor the Sub-Mariner by John Byrne
She-Hulk by John Byrne
Superman for All Seasons
The Long Halloween
Excalibur by Alan Davis
Pretty much any Uncanny X-Men from issue 94-245
Ditko, Romita Sr, Ross Andru Era Amazing Spider-Man

stu89

DMZ and The Spectre run by John Ostrander/Tom Mandrake. Fables always!

jkkeller914

1. The Byrne/Claremont run of Uncanny X-men... where I got my start in collecting.
2. Infinite Crisis. I did a 4 volume hardcover set that compiled the whole enchilada in one complete story, from Identity Crisis all the way through the end of the overall arc.
3. Watchmen. Still gets read every year or so. Still find something new each time.
4. JLA - From issue #1 of Grant Morrison's run through his departure.
5. Justice League - New Frontier.

CageNarleigh

I'll have to dig through my longboxes to figure out what RUNS I re-read...but I have one issue I re-read like crazy...(it popped in my head as soon as I saw this topic)

ChrisBeckett

CageNarleigh said:

I'll have to dig through my longboxes to figure out what RUNS I re-read...but I have one issue I re-read like crazy...(it popped in my head as soon as I saw this topic)

That's a great issue. I really loved all those BnB issues by JMS.

ChrisBeckett

And, to bump this a bit, here are my thoughts on Neil Gaiman's Sandman, from my blog, as mentioned in the initial post.

This was the series for me, when it was originally published, and it is what helped make Neil Gaiman one of my favorite writers. The Sandman was unlike almost any other series I was reading, at the time (I had yet to compile a full collection of Alan Moore’s Swamp Thing), and it hit me at just the right age. I was in high school when the first issue was published, and was entering my senior year when I discovered the series, with issue #8, “The Sound of Her Wings.” Gaiman’s concoction of horror and magic, ancient myth and a literary sensibility, spoke right to me. And as the series progressed, the realization that he was overlaying all of these various stories with a single narrative that would see the main protagonist evolve, in as extreme a way as possible for the embodiment of Dream, only added to my appreciation of this series. It’s a masterpiece, in my opinion, and one that rewards subsequent readings with new insights.



Sandman hit at a time when the comic book publishers were just beginning to look at collected editions as a viable publishing avenue. When this became the expectation—that the single issues would be collected into a lasting volume—something occurred with the serialization of many comic books—writers (or the editors), would plan storylines to be six issues long, allowing for a standard length collection that could be priced appropriately and sit alongside all the other six-issue collections on the shelves. Thankfully, Sandman came before this—and I might argue that Gaiman would not have fallen into that trap, but who can say?—and the storylines within the comic spread across however many issues were needed to tell the story properly, whether it be five issues or seven or thirteen. These were often interspersed with a series of single-issue stories, vignettes that felt like a nice respite between arcs but, in many cases, were later revealed as integral pieces of the overall narrative. Yeah, I love this comic.



And, again, like Hama above, Gaiman was afforded the opportunity to work with a wonderful complement of amazing artists, including Charles Vess, Colleen Doran, Mike Dringenberg, Sam Kieth, Kelley Jones, Jill Thompson, Marc Hempel, and many others. These comics are not just wonderful stories, but they are also a feast for the eyes. Some of the most beautiful comic art can be found in these volumes, especially the final one, “The Wake,” which includes art from Michael Zulli, Jon J. Muth, and the aforementioned Vess. And don’t forget the covers by the inimitable Dave McKean. Just, seriously, beautiful, wonderful, amazing stuff. Seek it out if you haven’t already.

-chris

SenatorKelly

1. Morrisons complete Batman run: I know a lot of fans rag on Morrison, but the re read value of his work is amazing to me. I get something new every time, plus, since I'm new to comics, the more I learn about DC history, the more value his work adds.

2. JLA (97) volumes 1-4: Again, I'm a big Morrison fan, but this book to me is everything a team book should be. Each arc was an apocalyptic scenario, and to me that's why you would assemble a superhero team. As much as I love the Morrison stuff, Tower of Babel is probably my favorite JLA story ever, and I hope it is somehow adapted into the films someday.

3. Hickmans Avengers/new avengers, FF, and Secret warriors are all awesome too. Secret warriors was a great story, and I'm always down to re read it to catch things I missed. With Hickman, he basically told one long story throughout FF, Ultimates, and then the Avengers/new avengers stuff. All the buildup was awesome for secret wars, especially the FF story line.

Mr_Cosmic

SenatorKelly said:

3. Hickmans Avengers/new avengers, FF, and Secret warriors are all awesome too. Secret warriors was a great story, and I'm always down to re read it to catch things I missed. With Hickman, he basically told one long story throughout FF, Ultimates, and then the Avengers/new avengers stuff. All the buildup was awesome for secret wars, especially the FF story line.

Reading his Avengers books during Infinity was fantastic. If a person skipped reading them it was like missing a huge chunk of the Infinity story.

Secret Warriors was great and I'd tie his SHIELD story in there as well. You can read everything he did at Marvel and find connecting threads. Amazing.

ChrisMurrin

I know I've mentioned some of these in the past, but why not do so again? In no particular order, runs I reread from time-to-time

Daredevil: Born Again
Swamp Thing: Deadly Genesis
The Shadowline Saga / Critical Mass
Green Lantern Countdown (V2 issues 194-200)
Kirby FF in the 50s and 60s (Masterworks vol 28)
Batman: A Death in the Family
Batman: Year One
Iron Man anything from Mantlo/Tuska or Michelinie/JRjr/Layton

And though I haven't reread it yet, I suspect the Waid/Rivera/Samnee run of Daredevil will soon join that list.

A lot of obvious choices, but those are my go-tos for those rare occasions when I'm rereading something instead of tackling the to-read pile.

hauberk

ChrisMurrin said:

I know I've mentioned some of these in the past, but why not do so again? In no particular order, runs I reread from time-to-time

Daredevil: Born Again
Swamp Thing: Deadly Genesis
The Shadowline Saga / Critical Mass
Green Lantern Countdown (V2 issues 194-200)
Kirby FF in the 50s and 60s (Masterworks vol 28)
Batman: A Death in the Family
Batman: Year One
Iron Man anything from Mantlo/Tuska or Michelinie/JRjr/Layton

And though I haven't reread it yet, I suspect the Waid/Rivera/Samnee run of Daredevil will soon join that list.

A lot of obvious choices, but those are my go-tos for those rare occasions when I'm rereading something instead of tackling the to-read pile.

You are the first person, aside from myself, that I have ever seen say anything positive about Shadowline Saga. I loved those books. The absolutely egregious treatment of Doctor Zero in Secret Wars dropped me right back out of Marvel when that Alex Ross cover image with Zero and St. George had reeled me back in.

SolitaireRose

hauberk said:

ChrisMurrin said:

I know I've mentioned some of these in the past, but why not do so again? In no particular order, runs I reread from time-to-time

Daredevil: Born Again
Swamp Thing: Deadly Genesis
The Shadowline Saga / Critical Mass
Green Lantern Countdown (V2 issues 194-200)
Kirby FF in the 50s and 60s (Masterworks vol 28)
Batman: A Death in the Family
Batman: Year One
Iron Man anything from Mantlo/Tuska or Michelinie/JRjr/Layton

And though I haven't reread it yet, I suspect the Waid/Rivera/Samnee run of Daredevil will soon join that list.

A lot of obvious choices, but those are my go-tos for those rare occasions when I'm rereading something instead of tackling the to-read pile.

You are the first person, aside from myself, that I have ever seen say anything positive about Shadowline Saga. I loved those books. The absolutely egregious treatment of Doctor Zero in Secret Wars dropped me right back out of Marvel when that Alex Ross cover image with Zero and St. George had reeled me back in.

I was surprised that Marvel brought the characters back at all, seeing as how they were under the Epic imprint and I thought there had to be some sort of creator ownership involved.

And creator ownership is why we won't ever see the Ultraverse characters at Marvel, no matter what corporate double speak they say when they are asked.

Hex

hauberk said:

You are the first person, aside from myself, that I have ever seen say anything positive about Shadowline Saga. I loved those books. The absolutely egregious treatment of Doctor Zero in Secret Wars dropped me right back out of Marvel when that Alex Ross cover image with Zero and St. George had reeled me back in.

I'm embarrassed to say that I have Never, Ever heard of Shadowline. A quick, cursory search of the interwebs displays there is plenty of info out there. As a dedicated Marvel Zombie, I'm shocked Archie Goodwin's attempt at a "new universe" flew under my radar.

Even more surprising, when you consider that I'm fairly certain I have a complete run of the early '90s series of Terror Inc. and that character originates from Shadowline.

I may have to hunt down some cheap, reader issues.

nweathington

Hex said:

I may have to hunt down some cheap, reader issues.

That shouldn’t be difficult at all. In fact, you should be able to easily find cheap high-grade issues as well.

hauberk

SolitaireRose said:

hauberk said:

ChrisMurrin said:

I know I've mentioned some of these in the past, but why not do so again? In no particular order, runs I reread from time-to-time

Daredevil: Born Again
Swamp Thing: Deadly Genesis
The Shadowline Saga / Critical Mass
Green Lantern Countdown (V2 issues 194-200)
Kirby FF in the 50s and 60s (Masterworks vol 28)
Batman: A Death in the Family
Batman: Year One
Iron Man anything from Mantlo/Tuska or Michelinie/JRjr/Layton

And though I haven't reread it yet, I suspect the Waid/Rivera/Samnee run of Daredevil will soon join that list.

A lot of obvious choices, but those are my go-tos for those rare occasions when I'm rereading something instead of tackling the to-read pile.

You are the first person, aside from myself, that I have ever seen say anything positive about Shadowline Saga. I loved those books. The absolutely egregious treatment of Doctor Zero in Secret Wars dropped me right back out of Marvel when that Alex Ross cover image with Zero and St. George had reeled me back in.

I was surprised that Marvel brought the characters back at all, seeing as how they were under the Epic imprint and I thought there had to be some sort of creator ownership involved.

And creator ownership is why we won't ever see the Ultraverse characters at Marvel, no matter what corporate double speak they say when they are asked.

I was surprised as well. So much so, that it was a real crotch punch to see just how severely they treated him. I suppose that the real positive out of it was that they did it in the first issue, saving me quite a bit of money.

Epic was doing so much good stuff at that time.

ETA: revise time from this to that.

bralinator

I miss Epic.

TheOriginalGMan

Dark Knight Returns
Kingdom Come
Watchmen
Avengers Forever
The End League
Pax Romana
The Marvel 1970s Terror on the Planet of the Apes series

SolitaireRose

hauberk said:

SolitaireRose said:

hauberk said:

ChrisMurrin said:

I know I've mentioned some of these in the past, but why not do so again? In no particular order, runs I reread from time-to-time

Daredevil: Born Again
Swamp Thing: Deadly Genesis
The Shadowline Saga / Critical Mass
Green Lantern Countdown (V2 issues 194-200)
Kirby FF in the 50s and 60s (Masterworks vol 28)
Batman: A Death in the Family
Batman: Year One
Iron Man anything from Mantlo/Tuska or Michelinie/JRjr/Layton

And though I haven't reread it yet, I suspect the Waid/Rivera/Samnee run of Daredevil will soon join that list.

A lot of obvious choices, but those are my go-tos for those rare occasions when I'm rereading something instead of tackling the to-read pile.

You are the first person, aside from myself, that I have ever seen say anything positive about Shadowline Saga. I loved those books. The absolutely egregious treatment of Doctor Zero in Secret Wars dropped me right back out of Marvel when that Alex Ross cover image with Zero and St. George had reeled me back in.

Epic was doing so much good stuff at that time.

Because Archie Goodwin was the editor. Just about anything he oversees will be great.

Caliban

Mark_Engblom said:

Moore, Bissette, and Totelben's Swamp Thing - Some truly terrifying stories with utterly unique art.

I think this is the correct answer to just about every question on the forum.