Comic Books

[Terminatah]

Thanks to this animated series and this forum, I became more interested in the comic book aspect of the characters, so I went to some websites and constructed a list of comics and book compilations I plan to get. For the first time, I visited the section in Barnes & Noble's with all the geeky superhero stuff and leafed through a lot of those compilations. I ran across JLA: Tower of Babel and I thought the art was great (especially compared to Frank Miller's highly acclaimed "The Dark Knight Returns," which disappointed me with its sloppy style - I know, I've been spoiled by the animated series).

I only PERUSED all the books I found, but I plan to buy Tower of Babel and Batman: Year One and read them at length. These made the cut. As for individual issues, I plan to send out for The Killing Joke and Mad Love. I only like villains with interesting psychological profiles (lunatics). Maybe someday I can find some equally involving takes on Two-Face, who I think is just as intriguing as the Joker (duality has always been a conflict with Batman). Recommendations?

I'd appreciate any thoughts regarding the comics. Batman, JL, whatever. Some of you seem to be more familiar with this field.



-Terminatah

[Karkull]

Get Batman: The Long Halloween for an equally involving story with Two-Face.

[kid_flash]

Seek out everything you can with Morrison's JLA stuff. It's incredible (ESPECIALLY Rock of Ages).

Justice League of America: The Nail blew me away, and now I'm afriad to read it again because it's so amazing.

Kingdom Come, for about two billion reasons.

The Killing Joke, 'cause it's the best Joker story ever.

Like Karkull said, The Long Halloween, and I also recommend the follow-up, Dark Victory. TLH is my favorite Batman story.

No Man's Land, if you can afford it (5 TPBs). It's incredible, deep stuff.

Although not JL-related, I can't recommend RISING STARS enough. It's the WATCHMEN of the 21st century.

Uh....let's see here....i guess that's all I can think of.

[Samhaine]

Originally posted by Terminatah
Thanks to this animated series and this forum, I became more interested in the comic book aspect of the characters, so I went to some websites and constructed a list of comics and book compilations I plan to get. For the first time, I visited the section in Barnes & Noble's with all the geeky superhero stuff and leafed through a lot of those compilations. I ran across JLA: Tower of Babel and I thought the art was great (especially compared to Frank Miller's highly acclaimed "The Dark Knight Returns," which disappointed me with its sloppy style - I know, I've been spoiled by the animated series).

Sloppy? SLOPPY? Wow, that's the first time I've ever heard that. I loved the art, and also the art (which could be considered sloppier than DKR) in DK2. I guess it's personal preference, but I thought it was great. Matched the story perfectly.

Go for The Long Halloween and Dark Victory. Two great early Batman stories. The 4 Nightwing trades are good stuff. The JLA trades are some good reading as well.

For some not-so-superhero stuff, I have to recommend the three 100 Bullets trades, and also the two Lucifer trades. This is some great, mature readers stuff, and I can't get enough of either series.

[Calhoun07]

JL has also really made me think more than a few times about picking up more DC comics. Heck, I am even interested in seeing some Aquaman comics! I have NEVER had an interest in Aquaman!

I wonder if Cartoon Network will realize the potential to advertise DC Comics duing JL. DC should really invest in some air time. I got into comics to begin with because I was enamored with the Spider Man cartoons back in the 80's, and I got back into comics after seeing Batman the Animated Series. JL is the best thing going, and I think DC could sell so many more comics if they marketed them during JL.

[James Harvey]

JL comics? The Tower of Babel TPB is a must read. This is a collection that you will really enjoy. JL: Earth 2 is also a great take on the heros with nice art by Frank Quietly. As for Batman, all the previous ones mentioned are great. Superman: The Oddyssey is a real good read.

[Harvey Dent]

I liked JLA: Rock of Ages and JLA: American Dreams, but my personal favorite has to be JLA: Year One. It was great seeing Barry, Hal, J'onn, Orin, and Dinah come together to form the League. Great stuff.

[kid_flash]

How could I forget JLA: Year One?!? If you only buy one TPB, make it this one. I guarantee you won't regret it. You don't even have to know who Barry Allen, Hal Jordan, Dinah Lance, Aquaman, or J'onn are. This introduces them perfectly, and provides a heckuva story.

[The Guard]

JLA: HEAVEN'S LADDER

[Ed Liu]

Howdy,

I recommend Matt Wagner's _Batman: Faces_ for a good story about Two-Face. It's a reprint from a 4-issue limited in Legends of the Dark Knight. There's also an annual from the late 80's or early 90's with a big Two-Face cover that was the definitive re-telling of Two-Face's origin in the modern era. I remember the art was by Chris Sprouse ('cuz I hated his noses), but don't remember who wrote it. I don't think it's a collectable, really (which is a shame), so you should be able to find it for cheap.

I'd also point you to Wagner's first Batman/Grendel series, which I think was collected into a TPB. The original Grendel was an interesting villian, and the crossover worked spectacularly well. The second one was far less interesting, but not bad, either.

I'll re-iterate the recommendation for Kingdom Come. Probably one of the best future-Elseworlds stories other than The Dark Knight Returns.

Almost all of the Grant Morrison JLA are worth the money. I personally didn't like Rock of Ages much (seemed like he suddenly realized he had to end the story arc, so he wrote one quick ending ish and called it a day), but I read it during the monthly run and picked it up in the middle, so I may not be getting the whole picture.

If you're willing to go beyond the hallowed halls of DC, do yourself a BIG favor and pick up Kurt Busiek's Astro City: Confessions. Astro City is one of the best superhero comics that has ever been written anywhere ever, and Confessions is kind of like his take on Batman. Insanely cool.

-- Ed/Ace

[metaphysician]

Originally posted by Ace the Bathound
Howdy,

I recommend Matt Wagner's _Batman: Faces_ for a good story about Two-Face. It's a reprint from a 4-issue limited in Legends of the Dark Knight. There's also an annual from the late 80's or early 90's with a big Two-Face cover that was the definitive re-telling of Two-Face's origin in the modern era. I remember the art was by Chris Sprouse ('cuz I hated his noses), but don't remember who wrote it. I don't think it's a collectable, really (which is a shame), so you should be able to find it for cheap.

I'd also point you to Wagner's first Batman/Grendel series, which I think was collected into a TPB. The original Grendel was an interesting villian, and the crossover worked spectacularly well. The second one was far less interesting, but not bad, either.

I'll re-iterate the recommendation for Kingdom Come. Probably one of the best future-Elseworlds stories other than The Dark Knight Returns.

Almost all of the Grant Morrison JLA are worth the money. I personally didn't like Rock of Ages much (seemed like he suddenly realized he had to end the story arc, so he wrote one quick ending ish and called it a day), but I read it during the monthly run and picked it up in the middle, so I may not be getting the whole picture.

If you're willing to go beyond the hallowed halls of DC, do yourself a BIG favor and pick up Kurt Busiek's Astro City: Confessions. Astro City is one of the best superhero comics that has ever been written anywhere ever, and Confessions is kind of like his take on Batman. Insanely cool.

-- Ed/Ace

"Confessions" equals or exceeds pretty much everything out there except Watchmen and MAYBE Dark Knight Returns. It is just plain damn good.

[Apache Chief]

JLA: Heaven's Ladder is fantastic - a good story, and some of the best comic art I've ever seen.

The Alex Ross painted books have been great: Superman: Peace on Earth and Batman: War on Crime. Shazam: Power of Hope and Wonder Woman: Spirit of Truth were less strong, but they're still good, and I've had success getting non-comic readers to read them.

Superman: A Man for all Seasons is excellent.

[James Harvey]

Batman: War of Cime, Superman: Peace on Earth, and Wonder Woman: Spirit of Truth are really good reads. They are written by Paul Dini and painted by Alex Ross. I know there's a Shazam! edition as well, but the name slips my mind. They're only $10 each and they are really, really beautiful stories.

[The Green Hornet]

SHAZAM! The Power of Hope is the name of the Shazam book


all of the book in this series done by ross and Dini are quite touching and the proceeds go to charity, so please pick up a copy if you get the chance!

[James Harvey]

The Superman issue was by far the best installment I found. It is astonishing to see Superman...powerless. It was veyr touching. DC plans to release a hardcover bound edition of all these titles togethor either in 2002 or 2003.

[The Green Hornet]

agreed

although the big red cheese's interaction with those kids was quite touching as well-- makes for an interesting dynamic b/c he isnt much older than any of them really......