Recommend your favorite TPBs

[John Crichton]

I've searched through this forum to find some suggestions but I figured it may be of benefit to have a thread where we have compiled suggestions. I'm getting really into collecting/reading trade paperbacks. I can usually finish them in 1-2 sittings on lunch breaks and they are great reading. What are your favorites?

I'm looking for stories that are self-contained or don't require that you've read other comics to get into them. I've read Watchmen & Dark Knight Returns. I've been collecting Ultimate Spider-man and Ultimate X-men and just finished Marvel 1602 a litte while ago.

What else is worth reading and relatively easy to find? I'm open to anything of quality.

 

[haiiro]

Excellent, and fitting your criteria:

- Any of the Sin City books by Frank Miller
- Marvel's Ultimates 1 & 2
- Any of the Hellboy trades by Mike Mignola
- V for Vendetta, by Alan Moore
- Ronin, by Frank Miller
- Heaven, LLC (I can't remember the author/artist team on this one)
- Domu, by Katsuhiro Otomo

Hellboy and Sin City reward reading other volumes, but both work very well even if read piecemeal or out of order. I know I'll think of more when I can actually see my shelf, but that's all for now.

 

[John Crichton]

Excellent, and fitting your criteria:

- Any of the Sin City books by Frank Miller
- Marvel's Ultimates 1 & 2
- Any of the Hellboy trades by Mike Mignola
- V for Vendetta, by Alan Moore
- Ronin, by Frank Miller
- Heaven, LLC (I can't remember the author/artist team on this one)
- Domu, by Katsuhiro Otomo

Hellboy and Sin City reward reading other volumes, but both work very well even if read piecemeal or out of order. I know I'll think of more when I can actually see my shelf, but that's all for now.

Cool. List a few more after looking at the shelf. I can rip through these things at a pretty fast pace...

 

[TheBadElf]

The Golden Age, by James Robinson - one of my favorite super hero stories ever, not least because of the wonderful surprise villains.

Any of the Astro City TPBs; self contained with great stories and art. I particularly recommend the one about The Confessor.

If you enjoyed Dark Knight Returns, track down Batman: Year One. For my money it's the best Batman story ever.

If you don't mind starting a series, you can get the two that I suggest to anyone with decent taste in comics: Preacher and Transmetropolitan. Just start with the first volume of either and go from there. You'll be glad you did, especially with Transmetropolitan. Brilliant stuff.

And I haven't read Heaven LLC or Domu, but I've read and recommend all the others listed previously. Excellent comics all.

 

[Teflon Billy]

Earth X

 

[Tarrasque Wrangler]

Preacher. Preacher, Preacher, and some more Preacher. Forget that it was an ongoing that you need to read in order; there were only like 70 issues and you will fly through them. Best comic series I've read ever.

 

[Vigilance]

JLA: Tower of Babel- the JLA are betrayed... by Batman.
Daredevil: Visionaries Frank Miller Volume 2 (the Elektra saga- one of the best comic stories ever)

X-men: Dark Phoenix Saga- the definitive story from one of the definitive x-men runs by Claremont and Byrne

Fox trot: the works- great for a laugh and with a high geek quotient. Includes many strips about D&D that are pure classics.

 

[Mark]

Sandman

 

[ddvmor]

If you enjoyed Dark Knight Returns, track down Batman: Year One. For my money it's the best Batman story ever.

But under no circumstances should you touch Miller's follow-up to DKR, The Dark Knight Strikes Back - not even with a barge pole.

I can echo the sentiments of everyone who mentioned Preacher, Sin City or Sandman. Also Frank Miller's Give Me Liberty was pretty darn good. The follow ups were ok.

I really enjoyed The Batman: No Man's Land series as well. Gotham gets devastated by an earthquake and the 5 tpbs chronicle Batman's back to basics approach. Good stuff.

 

[Ibram]

Following on Batman....

Batman: Cataclysm
Batman: No Mans Land (a series of TPBs)
Batman: Wargames
Arkham Asylum (an awsome story that takes place inside the asylum, but doesnt realy feature the Batman)

the TPBs featuring the second Batgirl.... Cassandra i think