Let's try to say something other than Watchmen even though I love it too.
I like The Killing Joke, the Walking Dead comics and Whedon's run on Xmen.
Kingdom Come, maybe? Idk, I don't read comics all that much. I love Spawn though.
@Achillez
I've collected Spawn comics since I was 13. Other comics and graphic novels just don't seem to stand up to it.
Just about anything by Mark Millar--Kick Ass, Nemesis, Ultimates, Wanted
Jonathan Hickman's Nightly News and Pax Romana
favourite is a tall order.
I just recently discovered the genius of Will Eisner - the Contract With God Trilogy
Alan Moore's my favourite writer, but I think Neil Gaiman's Sandman is my favourite series
Honourable mention for Grant Morrison's Invisibles
in Japanese comics Vagabond is awesome - historical fiction on the life of Musashi Miyamoto - a swordsman's swordsman. Also Akira. Classic good stuff on a grand scale.
Because I refuse to call comics "graphic novels" I won't mention any comics. However, I do like a lot of, what I consider to be, graphic novels.
Shaun Tan does some great books that are truly 'graphic'. They have no words, yet manage to tell great stories.
Anything by Alan Moore. I still want to read a couple Batman ones and I wonder how the Walking Dead graphic novels are-- hopefully not exactly like the show.
Watchmen hands down! I lovee that book!!!! ^ and hell yeah Alan Moore kicks ass I adore everything he does but I do also really like the Walking Dead series. No Brainer!
Anything Doctor Who related... and several manga series, if those count as graphic novels. *chuckles* There's one in the Who-universe called The Only Good Dalek that was pretty amazing.
I read the first Walking Dead and found it meh - I think I'm about as glutted with zombies as I am with hipster vampires.
Cerebus the Aardvark by Dave Sim was an interesting read - uneven. Some parts were very text-heavy, some parts overt spoof, some parts very clever, and some parts, well, um... still not sure what to make of them entirely, but at least they were thought provoking.
The graphic novelization of Philip K. Dick's short story, "Electric Ant". Adapted by David Mack and artwork by Pascal Alixe. I also plan on starting, "Y: The Last Man" by Brian K. Vaughan.
Fun Home by Alison Bechdel and The Sandman collection by Neil Gaiman.
The Dark Knight Returns-Frank Miller. It blew my mind when I first read it.
@Dhanny - David Mack's Kabuki series is an incredible bit of graphic design - it's one of my favourites.
Eric Drooker has a couple of wordless GN's out Blood Dance and Flood which I really like - kinda like wood-block artwork. He also illustrated Ginsberg's Howl and put that out.
The Killing Joke, The Long Halloween, and The Widening Gyre. Batman rocks.
@Shocktrooper -Exactly. Always was, always will be The Dark Knight Returns as far as my favorite for that very reason. I don't hate his other stuff, either, like a lot of people do. In fact I quite enjoy it. Year One's a classic.
Like The Killing Joke by Moore, too, and a recent favorite of mine is All Star Superman by Grant Morrison.
Anyone reading Action Comics right now? Grant Morrison's doing great with that. Kind of like how Frank Miller brought on the Alpha and Omega for Batman in the 80's, Morrison's doing that for Superman right now.
Props Kirk - Shaun Tan is an Aussie, and quite frankly one of the most talented. His work is truly beautiful.
Right now for me, a favourite is Joe Hill's Locke and Key. Great, suspenseful writing that really uses the comic to great effect. I'm loving it.
Anthing by Sam Keith, absolute favourite being The Maxx.
Superman: Red Son by Mark Millar is a close second
Reading Hack/Slash at the moment. It has some meh moments but it's definitely working its way into my favourites pile.
Does manga count? If so, then One Piece is the ultimate kick-ass graphic series.
Pretty much anything by BrianMichael Bendis and Ed Brubaker. Thsoe guys are my favorite.
All of Brian Michael Bendis's independant stuff is worth picking up. If you're a writer, you should also study how his dialogue flows. He's really got an ear for how real people talk.
For Ed Brubaker, you really need to check out his Criminal series and the two Incognito books. Also the Sleeper series is great.
All you Alan Moore fans and nobody has mentioned V for Vendetta or From Hell? As good as Watchmen is, those are also pretty great.
Geez, I'm drawing a blank. I'm sure I'll come back to this thread with some more.
anything by warren ellis with an emphasis on transmetropolitan. the man tells a brilliant story. nice mention of hickman's stuff upthread. as physical objects his works are beautiful. i don't read as much as i used to but i'd also mention azzarellos 100 bullets. it was nicely done.
Oh, 100 Bullets is amazing! Brandon got me to give it a shot. And I absolutely loved it. I can't believe I forgot that one.
For me it's a toss-up between Locke & Key and The Walking Dead. Aside from those, I'd recommend Morning Glories, Atomic Robo, and Preacher.
From Hell, probably. Maybe Watchmen.
Oh, everybody's already mentioned most of my favorites... which saves me from having to mention them. My favorite graphic novels not already mentioned:
In the Batman category: Arkham Asylum by Grant Morrison and Dave McKean. That's right, McKean has illustrated a batman comic.
In the Superman category: JLA: Tower of Babel, okay not really about Superman, but just another excuse to have Batman.
In the independent comic category: Scud: The Disposable Assassin. Probably the weirdest thing I've ever read, and I had a subscription to Bust Down the Door and Eat All the Chickens. Weird and awesome.
In the just drop dead gorgeous category: Is a tie. Mateki: The Magic Flute byYoshitaka Amano and The Second Earth: Pentateuch Re-Told by Patrick Woodroffe. These aren't comics, as much as beautifully illustrated stories. Mateki is Amano's re-invisioning of the opera... you know, the one by Mozart... and I've always loved Amano's work. Second Earth is a cautionary, sci-fi, creation-story. If you hold really strong opinions about such things, may not be for you, but his pictures are intricately detailed and stunning.
In the Neil Gaiman category: The Day I Swapped My Dad for Two Goldfish, and not just another excuse to have Dave McKean, though his work on this is particularly clever. It's also probably my favorite of Gaiman's "children" stories.
In the spin-off category: Filler Bunny. By Jhonen Vasquez. As its name implies, Filler Bunny was short filler in JTHM, but eventually got a book or two of his own.
Three stories each written in the last few years: Daytripper, Scarlet and Criminal: Last of the Innocent are among my favorite comic mini-series (now collected as graphic novels) of all time.
Daytripper (ten points of one man's life from childhood to old age, his life might end at any one of them. A fantastic study in how we hold onto our lives and the decisions we make. Absolutely gorgeous illustrations to boot.)
http://www.amazon.com/Daytripper-Gabriel-Ba/dp/1401229697
Criminal: Last of the Innocent (picks apart Archie comics 15 years later, when 'Archie" realized he married the wrong girl... so he decides to marry her so that he can be with "Veronica." Meanwhile, Jughead has become a huge junkie. Sounds crazy, and it is, but it's actually brilliant. It says Vol. 6 but each Criminal story is an entirely self-contained work
http://www.amazon.com/Criminal-Vol-6-Last-Innocent/dp/0785158294
Scarlet (The Occupy Portland movement is taking place in exactly the same place a similar movement happens in this book, which just came out a few months ago. I think this work is extremely relevant not just in the states, but particularly to recent revolutions in the Middle East, particularly Egypt.
http://www.amazon.com/Scarlet-Book-Brian-Michael-Bendis/dp/0785152512
Y The Last Man is fantastic. Also, apparently so is Buffy Season 8.
Promethea changed my life. No joke. This is a graphic novel about magick, tarot, the kabbalah, and the power of imagination. It also manages to equate the fictional world of a graphic novel to the esoteric theory currently en vogue in physics that we may all be living on the surface of a holographic universe.
Interestingly enough, Alan Moore, as much as I love him (and I do love him) as an author of graphic novels, is not my favorite writer qua writer. His prose is, frankly, impenetrable.
You really can't go wrong with Y: The Last Man--or anything written by Brian K. Vaughn for that matter (besides, of course Lost, which could literally waste weeks of your time, but that was a collaborative effort of writters of which he was only a small part so he gets a pass)
If any of you guys and gals have an iPad (or are getting a Kindle Fire) a lot of the aforementioned books can be downloaded and read exceptionally well via the Comixology Ap, it's incredible. You can also download a FEW of the aforementioned titles via iBook (IDW is the only comics publisher on iBook thus far: Parker: The Hunter and Locke and Key are both INCREDIBLE graphic novels that can be downloaded on iBook)
The Crow, hands down. It's simply beautiful.
Transmetropolitan
The Hellblazer wherein he flips off the devil and the one where he's in jail.
Watchmen.
Batman - Wasteland.
Books of Magic vol 1.
@Scott Williams - I agree about Promethea and about Moore's writing - I love his story ideas, but his prose is dense enough to stop nutrinos.
I haven't read many graphic novels, but I do agree that The Crow is beautiful. I'd have to mention Sandman, too. I really want to read Transmetropolitan, but the staggering height of Mt. ToBeRead has so far precluded it.
@postpomo - Right? And I like dense.
I mean, there's dense, and then there's "stop it."
In addition to Millar and Hickman's self-contained works I mentioned before, if you're wanting some good on-going work:
Dan Slott is doing a great job on Amazing Spider-Man
Jeff Parker on Thunderbolts is humorous, tragic, and fun
Mark Waid's Irredeemable and Incorruptable are neat takes on the superhero comic
and anything Brian Michael Bendis turns out is usually worth looking into
Jimmy Corrigan, The Smartest Kid On Earth by Chris Ware is probably one of my favourite books now. Just utterly sad, moving, funny... big recommend on that one.
@Jack - I agree with Jimmy Corrigan - someone recommended it to me with the warning that "you shouldn't read this if you're in an emotionally vulnerable state" - it's something poignant and heart-wrenching.
I like Charles Burns work - Black Hole, and recently X'ed Out - very weird. the latter is Tintin-esque, if Tintin were written by Salvador Dali.
Jeff Lemire has written some great pieces as well. Essex County is his breakthrough work about said county in southern Ontario - he manages to evoke loneliness, isolation, and innocence in a way I haven't seen elsewhere (and comic writers often discuss loneliness - nobody wants to hang out with you when you're drawing all day).
You guys ever read Druuna, by Paolo Eleuteri Serpieri?
Oh, I can't believe I forgot this:
Young Liars by David Lapham. This one is great. It's like nothing else. I don't know how to describe it really.
The Maxx. Really Brandon or Kirk deserve to mention this one, though Kirk said he was restricting himself strictly to "graphic novels" because of the thread title. But they are the ones that introduced me to The Maxx. Reading the series from start to finish is one weird ride, that is so worth it.
As a Comic book addict I felt that I HAD to respond to this post.
Y: The Last Man
Daytripper (Beautiful story! Must read)
Locke & Key
Joker by Brian Azarello
Sin City
AND my all time FAVORITE: Blankets by Craig Thompson ( Almost made me cry how beautiful it was)
Transmetropolitan is hands-down my favorite comic of all time. I first read it right during the 2008 election season so it seemed weirdly timely despite having been written a decade before that.
A few years back I was pleasantly surprised by Joss Whedon's run on Astonishing X-Men too. Very interpersonal drama focused, but he made it work. (it helps that the X-cast works well with the high drama, I guess.)
Someone else mentioned Chris Ware-- I really loved his Quimby the Mouse omnibus book, but yeah, it's not for those moments when you might be susceptible to deep bouts of existential depression.
Obviously EVERYTHING by Chris Ware.
(almost) everything by Alan Moore
But not to forget (since everybody seemed to) Arham Asylum by Grant Morrison and Dave McKean
Another GN that changed my life was Cages by Dave McKean.
But not to forget (since everybody seemed to) Arham Asylum by Grant Morrison and Dave McKean
Oh I didn't forget it - I really didn't like it at all. I feel like I'm the only person that is not falling for the Emperor's New Clothes whom we call Grant Morrison.
@Pete: Grant Morrison has his moments, and too often for my taste, he's off in Morrison land and has left us without a roadmap. What is it you don't like about him? I've been avoiding superhero stories for the mostpart, but I've read his X-Men run and a couple JLA.
I bought most of his Batman run. It was all over the place and I felt so lost. I mean, I can outline it and sort of udnerstand it. But I felt like we (as the reader) weren't inolved in the story like comics and graphic novels usually make me feel. I was a total outsider watching a filtered version of what was happening. The twist didn't feel like twist and felt more like cheap tricks.
BTW - those books are the only comics/graphic novels I've considered selling.
That's his style, pretty much. It's how I felt about the Filth but now that I have a vague idea of what it's about, I'm going to give it a second go-around and see what more I can get out of it. Maybe something. Maybe nothing.
WE3 was alright.
Y: The Last Man
The Sandman of course and Fables is pretty interesting
Kingdom Come was pretty amazing. Waid's story had real weight and Alex Ross's art was totally unbelievable. I'd kill to get my hands on a piece of KC original art, but a page goes for something like $25,000 if you can track it down.