Where to start with Graphic Novels?

Sandman is a truly astonishing series. If you can justify the cost (and find them all) the absolute editions are some of the best books you could ever own.

Other good reads:
Kingdom Come (worth it for the artwork alone)
100 Bullets
Y the Last Man
Fables
Sin City (just been re-released)
Ultimates 1 & 2
Captain America (by Ed Brubaker)
New Frontier
Superman: Red Son
Hellboy
Batman: Arkham Asylum
Batman: Death in the Family
Batman: Hush (read Death in the Family first)
Batman: Under the Hood
Batman: Cult
Batman War Drums/War Games/War Crimes
 
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As Kingdom Come has been mentioned (and yes this is the best work of Alex Ross ever) also look at Marvels which is Alex Ross' Kingdom Come for the Marvel world. It's from the point of view of everyday man on the street who is watching the heroes go about their thing.

Won't spoil it but if you get Kingdom Come then pick up Marvels at the same time :)

Others to recommend:

  • The Goon (9 volumes so far 10 is due sometime in the next month)
  • Silver Surfer: Rebirth of Thanos (classic 80's Marvel)
  • Infinity Gauntlet (The follow up to Rebirth of Thanos)
  • Superman: Earth One
  • The Walking Dead
  • Hulk: Planet Hulk
  • Hulk: World War Hulk (essentially the hulk goes on a rampage for revenge and kills half the marvel universe in his paddy, awesome read)
  • DareDevil: The Man Without Fear
  • League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (Blak Dossier is a good one but hard to find, easier to find is 1910 vol 1 and 2)
  • Transmetropolitan (10 volumes but cheap enough, can read a volume on its own as each vol is its own little story)
  • Crisis on Infinite Earths
  • Batman: Year One
  • Batman: The Dark Knight
  • Spiderman: The Gauntlet Vol 1 - 5 more recent Spiderman but all 5 make the series of Gauntlet
  • Akira (think this is 5 huge volumes, cheap enough these days from Titan Books)

Think that's enough of the a list so far, the main ones have been mentioned in previous posts.

Although, as mentioned above, if you have to get two graphic novels/trades then Kingdom Come and Marvels are a must.
 
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A few personal favourites:

Sin City
Transmetropolitan
The Watchmen
Swamp Thing (Alan Moore)
The Filth


Can't speak highly enough about The Filth. Well worth a look if you're after something different.
 
Can I just ask; so far I've been looking on some generic competitors that can not be named (just the usual ones where you think you might go for blu rays/dvd's games etc) and the bay. I wondered if there was a better place to pick these up online?
 
I find Amazon and Play good places to look, got plenty of cheapish stuff off Amazon recently. (incidently competitors can be named now as long as you don't link to them)

For a bigger selection but usually a higher price plus delivery cost you have Forbidden Planet.
 
Quite different to some of the others suggested here, but I really enjoyed The Fixer by Joe Sacco - based around the Bosnian war.

Also Pyongyang by Guy Delisle was an interesting read about his experiences working in North Korea.
 
The Walking Dead : It was my first experience with Graphic Novels- I was one of the ignorant 'not fussed about comic books' type until I took a look and was astounded by the combination of powerful, adult storylines and beautiful drawings. :)
 
Akira
Alan Moore's run on Swamp Thing
Batman: The Killing Joke
Batman: The Dark Knight Returns
Death: The High Cost of Living
Fray
Judge Dredd: The Apocalypse War
Judge Dredd: America
Neverwhere
Preacher
Scott Pilgrim
Transmetropolitan
V for Vendetta
The Walking Dead
Wanted
WE3
 
I'd been meaning to start or contribute to a thread about graphic novels/comics (not to step on anyone's toes :p) - in particular The Walking Dead.

Am I doing it wrong? I got the compendium for Christmas and absolutely blitzed through it. It obviously has far less text than a regular novel, but it takes no reading at all. I ordered the next two following the compendium and read them even quicker.

I have to say, I do look (not a cursory glance) at the artwork, the facial expressions etc but they're over almost as soon as I turn the first page. Do they usually read so 'pacey', or is it just because it's a good page-turner?
 
Inspired by this thread, I did a bit of research. Have ordered vol.1 of The Walking Dead to see what it's like, looks really good.

Dare I say it even seems like something that would influence Left 4 Dead?
 
apeZ said:
Inspired by this thread, I did a bit of research. Have ordered vol.1 of The Walking Dead to see what it's like, looks really good.

Dare I say it even seems like something that would influence Left 4 Dead?
Click to expand...
My Mrs bought me the huge compendium of this for xmas ( <3 ) and it's a great read but I didn't see any resemblance to Left 4 Dead past the fact that it's about a zombie apocalypse in which case you could say the Night of the living dead or Dawn of the dead movies influenced L4D.
 
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