A Game Related Top Ten List for Comics/Graphic Novels

[Sharpe]

One of the lead designers of the upcoming superhero MMORPG City of Heroes has posted his list of top ten comic trade paperbacks:

http://www.cityofheroes.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=17480

A pretty credible list IMO. My own list would have less DC and at least one each of Astro City and Warren Ellis. But his top choice is right on :).

What do you guys think?

Dan

[Bub, Andrew]

Since you asked...

1. Daredevil: Born Again - Miller
2. Watchmen - Moore
3. The Dark Knight Returns - Miller
4. Saga of the Swamp Thing - Moore
5. Cerebus: High Society - Sim
6. Sin City - Miller
7. Hellboy: The Wolves of St. August - Mignola
8. Marvels - Busiek
9. The Books of Magic - Gaiman
10. Sandman: A Game of You - Gaiman

...oh wait, you didn't ask.

[Anonymous]

This looks more like "The Top 10 Most Overrated Comic Books of All Time".

[Sharpe]

Ok, here's the list I wrote when forwarding this link to my buddy:

1)Watchmen by Alan Moore
2)Dark Knight Returns by Frank Miller
3)Top Ten by Alan Moore
4)Astro City:Tarnished Angel by Kurt Busiek
5)League of Extraordinary Gentlemen Vol 1 by Alan Moore
6)Daredevil Visionaries Volume 2 (Issues 168 to 182)
7)Planetary:Terra Occulta by Warren Ellis
8)Daredevil: Born Again by Frank Miller
9)Astro City:Welcome to Astro City by Kurt Busiek
10)Wolverine Limited Series 1982 by Chris Claremont & Frank Miller

Those are my picks for superheroes only. For non-hero stuff, here is a short list in no particular order:

Sandman, Preludes & Nocturnes (Neil Gaiman)
Sandman, Season of the Mists (Neil Gaiman)
Preacher, Gone to Texas (Garth Ennis)
Hellblazer, Dangerous Habits (Garth Ennis)
Hitman, 10,000 Bullets (Garth Ennis)
300 (Frank Miller)

Dan

[Bub, Andrew]

Yeah, I've just never been able to get into the underrated comics. I try, though. Lord how I try.

[Ben Sones]

Oh yeah? Here are my picks:

1. Sandman: Season of the Mists (Gaiman)
2. Nausicaa of the Valley of Wind (Miyazaki)
3. Watchmen (Moore)
4. Maus (Spiegelman)
5. V for Vendetta (Moore)
6. Sandman: Dream Country (Gaiman)
7. The Dark Knight Returns (Miller)
8. Cages (McKean)
9. Thieves & Kings (pick one) (Oakley)
10. League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (Moore)

Just off the top of my head. I'll probably want to change it as soon as I hit "submit"...

[Sparky]

Bub, what do you like about Cerebus? I've gone through a good bit of a friend's Cerebus collection and just don't get it. It just seems like some enormous in-joke, a lot of being weird for the sake of being weird. Do I need a Sooper Sekrit Serebus decoder ring or something?

[Bub, Andrew]

Read High Society and get back to me. That one came just after the "I'm making fun of Conan and the Swamp Thing" and just before the self-indulgent "I'm ranting here" stuff later. The social satire and especially the Marx brothers parody in High Society is Sim at his pre-pretentious best. A brief peak that I think lasted from High Society to Jaka's Story. He went off the deep end after that. But that period is about 1000 pages in toto, not a bad peak.

But Sparky, can he write an accent! Whooo! It's like some rare weird skill only he has.

[Jim Preston]

I don't have even half the books on these top 10 lists, and I certainly don't consider myself and comics expert, but what's the general opinion of Batman: The Killing Joke? That was one of my favorites at the time and I am curious if it standing the test of time among the learned.

[Bub, Andrew]

That's a good one Jim. Hey, we can only pick 10 here, y'know? I'm kicking myself for not including Maus, but then again Maus is literat-toor.

[Toddy]

No From Hell? Come on, guys, that's gotta be on anyone's top ten list.

[Ben Sones]

I wavered between that and League of Extraordinary Gentleman. It's sort of a toss-up.

[Bub, Andrew]

It's number 12. Maus is number 11.
This isn't scientific you know.

[DennyA]

From this guy's appraisal of Crisis on Infinite Earths, you have to wonder if he's read the DC comics that followed. Crisis did NOTHING to simplify the DC universe. It made it worse.

Thus the need for Zero Hour, Final Night, and all the other "Crisis Continuity Repair" events.

Not to mention that Crisis is a poorly told, inconsistent story. It was certainly significant, but IMHO it wasn't well written nor did it serve to make the DC universe any more accessible.

[Jessica]

My picks:

1. The Dark Night Returns

2. Kights of the Dinner Table

3. All the others

Of course, I haven't been paying much attention this past decade or so, so my opinion is 'way out of date. In my misspent youth 30 and 35 years ago, I was partial to Spiderman, Superman, the original Batman, the Fantasic Four, Daredevil and the original X-Men.

[Bub, Andrew]

I get "the original X-Men" but what is "the original" Batman? Back when Bob Kane was doing it and he would, occasionally, break the necks of criminals? Or do you mean the wacky 50-60's version where each wacky villain had some sort of giant toy weapon?

[DennyA]

I get "the original X-Men" but what is "the original" Batman? Back when Bob Kane was doing it and he would, occasionally, break the necks of criminals? Or do you mean the wacky 50-60's version where each wacky villain had some sort of giant toy weapon?

Probably the serious-but-still-fun Batman of the 70s and early 80s, before he became a dark, deranged, psychopath. (Thanks Frank Miller. Thanks a lot.)

PS: Fuck DK2

[Don Quixote]

Wow. So much Moore, but no one mentions Miracleman (esp. book 3)? No mention of the entire run of Lone Wolf and Cub? No mention of Jenkins' Inhumans? Bah. You people dissapoint me

[Thierry Nguyen]

Wow. So much Moore, but no one mentions Miracleman (esp. book 3)? No mention of the entire run of Lone Wolf and Cub? No mention of Jenkins' Inhumans? Bah. You people dissapoint me

LW&C 26 proves that Retsudo Yagyu IS A TOTAL BADASS. I want to go back in time and become one of the Grass because of that issue.