Under-Rated Comics
SolitaireRose
Posts: 1,445
Since I started one topic yesterday, I'll start up the flip side today. We've talked about books on-going that people are pointing out, but this is a discussion for the hidden gems, the books that slipped past us or just never ever got their just due when it comes to critical acclaim or fan awareness.
For me, the best example of this is the comic "Mars" by Marc Hempel and Mark Wheatley. It was overshadowed by First Publishing's other big successes like American Flagg, Nexus and Grimjack, but I thought it was JUST as good as those series, and had the potential to be better. It was a science fiction story that had strong characters, hard choices for the characters to make, and didn't become a space opera or super-heroes in a SF setting. I see that IDW recently did a collection of the series, but that didn't get much attention either, which is a damn shame.
Other examples are:
Marvel's late Silver Age horror books Tower of Shadows and Chamber of Darkness. They were an attempt to do the kind of horror stories DC was doing in House of Mystery and Warren was doing in Creepy and Eerie, and had art by all of their best Silver Age artists like Sternanko, Kirby, Buscema, Colon and some of the best Don Heck art of his career. The stories were a notch above the short horror stories being done elsewhere, and STILL read well.
Ms. Tree - The comic that got me hooked on hard boiled crime fiction. Max Allen Collins wove great mystery/detective stories and Terry Beatty drew them in a classic style. I dove into the book and quickly became a huge fan of the genre, reading Collin's novels and moving out from there. I STILL feel like there is a lot more to explore in the genre, and I don't think the current crime boomlet in comics would exist if not for this book showing the way and bringing the genre back into comics.
Anyone else?
For me, the best example of this is the comic "Mars" by Marc Hempel and Mark Wheatley. It was overshadowed by First Publishing's other big successes like American Flagg, Nexus and Grimjack, but I thought it was JUST as good as those series, and had the potential to be better. It was a science fiction story that had strong characters, hard choices for the characters to make, and didn't become a space opera or super-heroes in a SF setting. I see that IDW recently did a collection of the series, but that didn't get much attention either, which is a damn shame.
Other examples are:
Marvel's late Silver Age horror books Tower of Shadows and Chamber of Darkness. They were an attempt to do the kind of horror stories DC was doing in House of Mystery and Warren was doing in Creepy and Eerie, and had art by all of their best Silver Age artists like Sternanko, Kirby, Buscema, Colon and some of the best Don Heck art of his career. The stories were a notch above the short horror stories being done elsewhere, and STILL read well.
Ms. Tree - The comic that got me hooked on hard boiled crime fiction. Max Allen Collins wove great mystery/detective stories and Terry Beatty drew them in a classic style. I dove into the book and quickly became a huge fan of the genre, reading Collin's novels and moving out from there. I STILL feel like there is a lot more to explore in the genre, and I don't think the current crime boomlet in comics would exist if not for this book showing the way and bringing the genre back into comics.
Anyone else?
Comments
Malinky Robot - I LOVE this entirely and completely. Everything. Very open-ended and imaginative with a sketchy and beautiful look and a world you want to live in and return to forever.
GI Joe - I know this may seem an odd choice and certainly not the entire run but there are some moments and short runs that are pure gold and go far beyond what people think of when they think GI Joe. For me GI Joe was my childhood and almost a religion, but bias aside I still stand by this. Snake-eyes trilogy, silent issue, I could go on.
Iron: The War After - This one is a bit light-hearted since it hasn't officially released yet, but I have seen the work being done on it and If this somehow gets nothing but universal praise I still believe it will be under-rated.
The Brian K. Vaughn/Sean McKeever Mystique series for Marvel.
Empowered - Okay, first you have to get past the idea that this is just Adam Warren's bondage fantasy put on paper - he's taken this book to places I'm willing to bet even HE didn't imagine when he first sketched out Emp. His dialogue (particularly when he's writing the Caged Demonwolf bits) are a case study in how to effectively use your thesaurus. You actually care about some of these characters (the ones you're supposed to, anyhow), and the art is...well...it's Adam Warren!
Thugs! - heh heh...cheap plug there. Issue #5 is on the way, folks! It's a good'un!
I think Mars was one of the best-looking books ever. Good story , too.
- Dan Slott's run on She-Hulk and his Great Lakes Avengers mini
- Milligan/Allred's X-Force/X-Statix
- Langridge/Samnee's Thor: The Mighty Avenger
:-?
Joe Kelly's Deadpool run. He took a Rob Leifeld rip-off of a cross between Deathstroke and Spider-Man and crafted one of the best mainstream comics of the 90s out of it. With the exception of Remender's Uncanny X-Force and (to a lesser extant) Nicieza's Cable and Deadpool series, nobody else has been able to make that character even close to as interesting as Kelly did. Not even Christopher Priest, who I love otherwise (although if you can put aside your inner "he can't do that" geek, Priest's issue where Deadpool lifted Mjolnir and became Thor was hysterical).
Claremont's return to the X-Men. I have a bit less conviction on this one than the other two because I'll admit it's a combination of nostalgia and my own tastes, but I would have liked to have seen where he would have gone with this story if given the chance. Claremont is a long-form storyteller.
Amazingly well done all ages series from two creators that are known for their more "mature" work. Plus it works on two levels. Sadly it didn't sell well and only lasted 9 issues. I know the comic shop I was getting it at only ordered 3 copies of each issue after the first one. 1 copy was for me,one was for the owner ,the last one was for the shelf.
Human Target Milligan took a backup story hero and turned it on its head. I've read it thru twice and I'm still not sure what I read.
Atari Force > I know it was a licensed property, but man they did some great things. Im gonna go out on a limb and call it the best licensed property work from that era, over GI Joe (narrowly, though it might be due to Joe overstaying its welcome)
Here's one I've been reading in trade and haven't mentioned:
The Amory Wars Series by Claudio Sanchez and Peter David. Now if I ignored the fact that I was into the band Coheed and Cambria before I started reading this series, would I have the same opinion? Tough call to make, but I'd like to think so. The book reads like a kid who grew up on Star Wars, those old Analog digests, and Heavy Metal magazine grew up and decided he was going to make himself a comic book. It's complex, overblown in points, awesome in others, with solid artwork throughout (at least in the Boom! comics releases) - in a nutshell it reads like classic sci-fi, with all the tropes and trappings that come with it ("Claudio, you must become The Crowing and get the Prise to the Keywork in time to prevent Heaven's Gate from collapsing!") I dig it because it takes me back to when I was a 12-year old geek and discovering the old-school masters like Asimov, Clarke, Cheyrah, etc. for the first time out. Not saying Sanchez is Asimov...but damned if he doesn't catch that vibe.
I agree love the old 70'sfrom DC and Marvel.
Along those lines the the horror and Sci Fi books from Pacific Comics are often over looked. They were just as good as the old 70's comics, especially since most of them were written by Bruce Jones who worked for Creepy and Eerie. Along with Alien Worlds and Sci Fi book which has Art Adams first published work. The stories were great and the art usually was top notch and they were a nice way to cleanse the palette between superhero books.
A Skeleton Story
Mediterranea
Route des Maisons Rouge
Their first set of trades are coming out now and the issues are awesome
My Faith in Frankie — A great little mini-series from Vertigo. DC recently collected it in one of their “Resurrected” one-shots, so it’s easy to find. I gave the Resurrected version out as Christmas presents last year.
Re-Gifters — Carey and Liew together again for a book in the late, lamented Minx line. I read a lot of the Minx books, and this was one of the best of the bunch. I also recommend The Plain Janes and Token.
Wonderland — A sequel of sorts to Disney’s version of Alice in Wonderland. There’s no Alice in this one. Instead, it focuses on a little girl who serves as a maid to the Red Queen. It’s very much in keeping with Carroll’s original stories, so if you’re a fan of the source material, I think you’ll like this. And Liew’s art is perfectly matched to the tone of the story. It was collected not too long ago, so it’s easy to find.
There’s also Sense & Sensibility—part of Marvel’s “Classics” line. I haven’t had time to read this one yet, so I won’t say yea or nay on it, but it’s a Jane Austen adaptation with Sonny Liew art. How bad could it be?
I’ll completely agree with you on Atari Force, though. Quality stuff.
All in all though, GREAT books!
On a related note, I really love The Maze Agency, which is not nearly so hard-boiled as Ms. Tree, but still a fun detective fiction series - a lot like an 80s detective show, really - with (mostly) fair play whodunnit stories and a great cast of characters. It gets revived by a different publisher every few years, but it never seems to last long, nor do efforts to collect the previously published material. Worth the hunt for the back issues, though.
As for sci-fi series, I can never recommend Little White Mouse enough. It's the story of a teenage girl who gets trapped on a largely abandoned asteroid mining station and how she survives, escapes, tries to get back home. She's a genius, and clever and spirited besides, so the ways in which she deals with the problems she's faced with are always unusual, brilliant, and fun, particularly the way in which she keeps her dead sister's memory alive. There are robots, space pirates, time travel, a ghost, and more. You can read the entire series in one omnibus, and really, you should go and do that right now.