WatchmenComicMovie.com Forum

Let's get one thing straight. This thread aint about your favourite characters or series, nor is it about your favourite run or your favourite series that you downloaded. This thread is about your top five trade paperbacks that you own, and cherish. I came up with the idea for this thread when I was thinking about what GN I would get Neil Gaiman to sign when he comes here in January.
This list is in no particular order, because I couldn't decide which order to put them in.

Preacher: Gone To Texas by Garth Ennis
This is actually the only Preacher gn that I own, as I borrowed the rest from a friend. I remember when I first read this series, I was into stuff like Watchmen and Sandman, and the girl I was seeing at the time was obsessed with Preacher. I read this gn to see what she was raving about, and it blew my fucking mind. This guy wrote the craziest shit, but without going the campy modern Frank Miller route. This book was a catalyst.

Batman: Whatever Happened To The Caped Crusader by Neil Gaiman
When I first started really getting into more modern comics, rather than old Chris Claremont stuff, two of the first gns I ever read were Wolverine: Origin and Marvel 1602. This taught me early on to always look out for anything with art by Andy Kubert.
In Whatever Happened To The Caped Crusader, Batman is present at his own funeral, and everyone present there is a different representation of a batman character. We have the 1940s Selina Kyle, the 1960s tv show Riddler, Detectives Montoya and Bullock from the TAS, and many others. Different people at the funeral tell completely different tales of Batman's death, and each story emulates a different era and style of Batman.
This story only goes for two issues, and the rest of the gn consists of reprints of other Neil Gaiman Batman stories, all of which are awesome, because Gaiman is a king.

Watchmen by Alan Moore and David Gibbons
What is there to say about this that hasn't already been said a billion times on this forum?
This book is a work of genius. Gosh.

Wolverine First Class: To Russia, With Love by Fred Van Lente
I cannot reccomend this under-rated series enough. If you're sick of being suffocated by Wolverine books at the moment, don't worry, because this series is really more about Kitty Pryde. I own all the volumes of this series, but after some thinking I decided that this one was my favourite. It collects issues 5-8, and has guest appearances from alpha flight, siryn, and a bunch of the classic soviet russian villains. It also has a reprint of the Chris Claremont uncanny arc where Logan and Nightcrawler go after the wendigo and Kitty Pryde officially becomes an X-man.

Daredevil Visionaries: Frank Miller, Volume 2
This collects issues 168-182 of Miller's DD run. Most of his best moments from the run are in this one trade, including of course Elektra's fateful fight with Bullseye. The art is awesome, the story is awesome, the characters are fleshed out awesomely, if you seriously haven't read any of this then you gotta try and get your hands on it ASAP.

Batman: Dark Victory by Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale
Believe it or not, I actually prefer this to it's predecessor, The Long Halloween. This is the coolest that Robin's origin has ever been, and even though some dialogue seems very reminiscent of lines from a certain masterpiece gangster film (COUGH-GODFATHER-COUGH), the book is still amazing. It's also good to see some closure on those crooked cops from Miller's Year One.

Iron Man: Demon In A Bottle by David Michelinie
I have this in Hardcover. The cover sleeve has really shiny gold font. Without this story-line, there would be no IRON MAN 2. Heck, there'd be no Civil War. This arc introduced the idea that Stark can have flaws, and this introduced his most famous and recurring flaw, alcoholism. It's funny though, because from the title you'd assume that this'd be real preachy about alcoholism, but in fact the majority of it is quite subtle.

Wolverine by Chris Claremont and Frank Miller
I've talked about this awesome awesome story-line so much that I actually feel talking about it here is redundant. Claremont is the best at what he does, and what he does best is write awesome x-men related stuff. This trade also has Claremont's mariko and wolverine wedding arc from Uncanny X-men.

Marvel 1602 by Neil Gaiman
I love the shit out of this book. I'm not used to writing posts that are this long, as usually I just make posts that consist of about one sentence and sometimes a few swear words and snide remarks, so I'm getting a little exhausted. This book reimagines the Marvel Heroes in the year 1602, with more glorious Andy Kubert artwork. It's one of the first gns that I ever purchased, rather than downloaded. Any Marvel or Gaiman fan should definitely check this out.

Astonishing X-men: Gifted by Joss Whedon
You'd either have to be a totally new member or a tree to not know by now that Ol' Smutty's fav (that's short for favourite) characters are the X-men.
This is the kind of book I would want to write if I had talent and worked for Marvel. Joss Whedon must truly be a huge X-men fan, because what he does here with X-men is somewhat like what Tarantino does with westerns in Inglourious Basterds, and what the coens do to gangster flicks with Miller's Crossing. This shit is awesome.

There's my list and explanations. I hope to see some other people post similar things to this. Sorry about any typos.

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Say, Doc, did I ever tell you I'm the only metal that's liquid at room temperature?

wow nice post smutty, what spurred this on?

i honestly haven't got a clue off the top of my head, but i will give some thought, and look through my TPB collection and get back to you.

i probably agree with 1602, but for Preacher, i just finished Vol 3 and i think i prefered that to Vol 1, i definately liked the Grail plotline a lot. and you get back story on jesse's dad and cassidy's orign.

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We're all actors, Laurie. I'm just an actor who read the script.

at first i thought this was top five/ten the pirate bays. then i realized that wouldn't make sense.

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Watchmen
Might as well get that one out of the way. I own two copies of the TPB, a hardback, a copy of the Absolute Edition and a first-issue reprint signed by Dave Gibbons. Not sure which one I'd grab first in the event of a fire.

Bone
I bought all 1000+ pages of this one only a month ago and I've already gone through it at least three times. I absolutely love this book. I love the characters, I love its epic fantasy story and I love the Looney Tunes-esque comedy relief touches. It's an amazing book.

We3
This is a comic that will satisfy your lust for action and make you cry while doing it. The artwork is phenomenal, with panel layouts that are novel and genius, in addition to some amazing scenes of spilled blood. The writing is wonderful and the characters are instantly sympathetic. It's a tiny little volume, but every page counts. Check it out.

Scott Pilgrim, Vol. 4
I love the whole Scott Pilgrim series, but I think Vol. 4 might be my favorite of the six. Scott's love arc takes a huge leap forward through Lisa Miller and his moving in with Ramona. He finally gets off his ass and gets a job. There's the mini-arc with Knives' dad. Ramona gets a fight scene. And of course, the opening color pages are nice, too.

Preacher: Vol. 3
Again, the whole series is great, but this one is probably my favorite entry. The action sequence at Masada is awesome, especially when the Saint of Killers gets involved. Allfather D'Aronique is a character who's intriguing in his psychology, funny in his appearance and hilarious in his departure from the series. The Grail's "savior" makes for some great comedy relief as well. All of this and a sweet little Vietnam side story, in addition to Cassidy's origin.

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This is truly a madhouse. And I'm the lunatic running it. I've spent three years wondering if I should be proud or ashamed.

i told you vol 3 was better

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We're all actors, Laurie. I'm just an actor who read the script.

Watchmen- duh.

The Dark Knight Returns- My all time favorite batman story and (in my opinion) the greatest work Miller has done (words at least I think his art has been better other places). truly a classic work. Also Carrie kelly is one of my favorite robins.


Daredevil visionaries Vol 2.- As some of you know Frank Miller is my favorite writer 9not the best just my favorite) and this tpb was the cement that erected the statue of Miller in my comic pantheon. The way Daredevil and elektra play off each other always touches me, and then 181... well... you know.

Sin City: That Yellow Bastard- Yeah I know, another Miller, but this book is my favorite in the SC series mixing a romantic arc with a great tough guy noir. The dialogue and art are both brutal, but Nancy breaks through all that with a softer touch.

Kingdom Come- There has never been a better comic that deals with a religious story. Kingdom Come is beautiful (both words and art) and at the same time heartbreaking. My favorite thing I've read by Waid and ross brings it to a new level here.

Preacher vol. 4- Don't get mad but seriously The Saint of Killer mini makes this cvolume one of my all time favorites. The rest of the series is fantastic, but the way The saint pretty much relieves unforgiven is incredbile, plus what's more bad ass than the Saitn shooting Satan?


(when he shoots god).

The Boys vol. 6 Herogasm- My favorite arc of the Boys it has humor, satire, gore, and sex... lots of sex. Although I prefer Robertson to McRea, I like the art here and Ennis continues to write great stuff with this one.

The Walking Dead Vol. 4-8- cheating I know but the whole Woodbury arc is fantastic, the sense of relief matched with then horor, then sorrow, and forcing the gang back on the road. Adlard's art is grotesque and Kirkman's writing is fantastic (of course).

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@RealSlimCAvery

I'm still far too stunned to adequately articulate my thoughts on the subject.

Most of Smutty's posts are just sardonic three word quips.

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"The world is a fine place and worth fighting for." I agree with the second part.

"There's a cello in your house now."

because he's kingly

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@RealSlimCAvery

pretty sure herogasm is volume 5
and you could probably get away with saying the walking dead compendium (i was going to), since it is technically a tpb, and it contains vol 1-8

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We're all actors, Laurie. I'm just an actor who read the script.

Actually it s... I just didn't feel like walking all the way upstairs (or searching the internet)

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@RealSlimCAvery

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Boys_(comics)#Collected_editions
1 The Name of the Game ISBN 9133305463 June, 2007 152 The Boys #1-6
2 Get Some ISBN 1933305681 March, 2008 192 The Boys #7–14
3 Good for the Soul ISBN 1933305924 October, 2008 192 The Boys #15-22
4 We Gotta Go Now ISBN 1848562985 July, 2009 192 The Boys #23-30
5 Herogasm ISBN 160690082X November, 2009 144 Herogasm #1–6

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We're all actors, Laurie. I'm just an actor who read the script.

And then 6 is Self Preservation Society and upcoming #7 is clled the innocents... I just had the numbering wrong...

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@RealSlimCAvery

that's ok, i was only trying to help, i have the advantage of currently reading herogasm.

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We're all actors, Laurie. I'm just an actor who read the script.

I will have to defy the requisites of the smutters here and name some TPB's that I would certainly buy when I move to a country (hopefully in January) whose government allows you to spend more than 400$ per year on internet purchases.

That said ! I already have:

V For Vendetta, this one was a gift from a friend of mine who went to New York, at the time I was a psychotic fan of Moore, and I just HAD to read all I could from him, I loved the movie, but I kinda looked down on it after reading the comic.

The World Without Superman, I think this one is actually Superman's "Funeral For A Friend", but on the cover it says "El Mundo Sin Superman", still, this was, and will always be, my first TPB, my mom bought it for me, may the guardians of the universe bless her soul !

Ok, so that's it for what I got, now, when I move to Peru, I can ask my cousin to buy some stuff for me, this are priority number 1:

Watchmen, because I would be completely full of shit If I didn't buy this ASAP, no more words are necessary to describe why this is a must.

Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, Yes, as unbelievable as it sounds, I AGREE WITH BROOKLYN ! But he is right, this is one of the best, if not THE best Batman story ever brought to comics, I really love it, and anyone who hates Batman won't have the same opinion of him after going through this, god bless that asshole Miller, he knows how to do something right.

Taskmaster Volume 2, a lot of you have heard me mention this one A LOT, and when it comes out on March 16th of 2011, I will treasure it like if it was an eye, a leg, or any other appendage that would actually be more valuable to me than this TPB. It is truly fantastic, and like many others before, it vindicates the comic medium with a goddamn punch to the face.

Anything From Hellblazer, I say anything because anything will have to do, these are a fuckin' bitch to get, Amazon has NONE, I've only seen "Rake At The Gates Of Hell" a long time ago, but nothing else. And even if I got my least favorite issues I would be bouncing from the walls given how this is THE comic that made me a comic-freak.

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Watchmen - So it's like this book, right? It's pretty popular. Maybe you've heard of it?

Bone: The Dragon Slayer - Before this series was made smaller, colourized, and aimed at a younger audience, Bone was a black and white epic, spanning nine books. Imagine The Lord of The Rings by way of Walt Kelly and that would only begin to describe the books appeal. The Dragon Slayer is one of, if not the longest, of the TPBs. By this time, creator Jeff Smith had really improved his artwork, and there are so many great set pieces, and moments, and it has a great story. Unfortunately, I'm embarrassed to admit despite owning the first 8 books, I have yet to read the final volume of the series.

Maus - Maus is a grim but gripping book. The most amazing thing about it is it's based on Art Spiegelman's father's real account of surviving life in a concentration camp, and there are moments where you think "he couldn't possible have done that". This is a graphic novel for grownups.

The Dream Hunters - Neil Gaiman and Final Fantasy's Yoshitaka Amano's take on an old Japanese folk tale in this book that combines Gaiman's prose, with Amano's spectacular artwork. Supposedly a more tradition comic book version was created later, but this is one to check out.

Marvels - Although the artwork isn't as strong as Kingdom Come's, I believe this to be the superior book. Marvels brings to life classic Marvel superheroes like Spider-Man, Captain America, and the X-Men, and is seen through the eyes of a newspaper photographer. The story weaves together classic Marvel storylines, but gives us a more personal perspective. This was created long before the current crop of Marvel superhero movies, and Alex Ross's illustrations realistic depictions of these charactes make this a must read.

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"Heard them Walthers like to jump some" "As will you, with one in your elbow."

Dude... that's crazy

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@RealSlimCAvery

yeah, is that just 400$ max spending on international retailers, or all internet retailers, including ones based in ven

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We're all actors, Laurie. I'm just an actor who read the script.

Let's get one thing straight here.

There are no US dollars in Venezuela, if you want to get your hands on some, you have to buy them through the black market, and that means buying them twice if not thrice the standard exchange rate.

That said, there is CADIVI, which is a government branch which allows spending of 400 US dollars on credit card purchases for travellers or people that want to buy stuff from the internet from ANY internaltional retailer that cashes their products in US dollars, you are only allowed 400 $ per year.

And it fucking sucks.

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what about British pounds? bookdepository.com does free intl postage and deals in GBP

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We're all actors, Laurie. I'm just an actor who read the script.

Wow, really ?

Still, there are also restrictions for the amount of euros you can ask for, so if I go to customer service at my bank and ask for my limit to pay with british pounds they will basically do this:

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