Comics
I've only recently gotten into comics in the last decade or so. In fact only since I decided that books needed to be read as ebooks (and put a ban on myself buying any more books). Unfortunately I flaunt the ban by telling myself that comics are different. Anyway, here's a list of the BEST comics that I've read.
The Top Three (Finite Series)
I prefer to read a finite series because then I know that the story I'm reading has a "planned" ending.
Maus
This took me totally by surprise and was one of the first non-film comics I ever read. I'm not quite sure what I expected but it certainly wasn't this serious, yet comic and real depiction of the holocaust and the survivors. Wow.
Persepolis
A scary comic which gave me a lot of insight into how other people live. If you want to have a deeper understanding of the Middle East, Persepolis is a good place to start.
From Hell
I was dreading reading this because I'd already seen the film and I thought I might get bored. This was so much better than the film.
The Top Three Infinite and Semi-Infinite Series
I'm generally less thrilled by infinite series because they never actually have an ending or at least, the ending isn't part of the original plan.
The Walking Dead
I've read more of the TWD than any other comic. I've read the first hundred and twenty issues and now that the series has ended, I guess I need to move on and read the rest. It's a great series -- and better than the TV series.
Battle Pope
This was the series that introduced me to the Walking Dead before it became a TV series. It's a funny and irreverent series with some amazing insights into the character of Jesus and how he could appear in today's world. It was so good that I looked for other things
Batman
Batman has a legacy spanning some incredible comics with a dark psychological background - including Hush, Year One, The Killing Joke and Arkham Asylum. I think it's Death in the Family though that is the best of the lot,
Other Graphic Novels and Comics
While these aren't in my top three's they're still very good comics and graphic novels and are well worth a read.
- Blankets: A little dull but good all the same.
- Bone: This is cute. I'm not sure if there was a subtext that I missed but it was cute.
- Deadpool Kills the Marvel Universe: Just because...
- Doctor Who - The Only Good Dalek: A great dalek story
- Locke and Key: This was really quite good, though I felt the TV series was better.
- Mouse Guard: This was a great fun novel.
- Preacher: A dark and moody comic.
- Pride of Baghdad: A really sad and true story about the zoo in Baghdad
- Scott Pilgrim: A funny coming-of-age comic.
- Sin City: Great Noir
- Stephen King's The Stand: I'm presuming this is finite even though it hasn't ended yet. This is amazingly close to the book.
- V for Vendetta: It leaves the film for dead.