What I would hand to someone who expressed an interest in GNs:
Planetary
Top Ten (especially the Moore-written stuff)
Fables (agreed that it really doesn’t pick up until vol 2)
Powers (lots of adult themes)
If you like superheroes at all:
Invincible (well done, straight-up superhero action)
The Ultimates (Vol 1 & 2)
Daredevil (the Bendis/Maleev run, available in handy Omnibus format)
Runaways
JLA: Earth 2 and All-Star Superman (Morrison/Quitely)
The Authority (Ellis/Millar/Quitely run)
We3 - a thin book that ends up being an absolute punch in the mouth and kick to the nuts. Cliched, predictable story arc? probably. Well executed, effective and haunting? Absolutely
I like non-hero graphic novels, and a great starting point are Joe Sacco’s various works.
And for the hero-type stuff, the 5 (or is it 6?) Akira books are a great, epic read.
Maus: A survivor’s tale
A holocaust story where the Jews as rats and the Nazi as cats.
Persepolis
There’s an animated movie out. It’s an autobiography of an Iranian girl after the revolution.
Other Adult themes that I liked that haven’t been mentioned.
It’s a bird
It’s a deconstruction of the Superman mythos and how he relates to everybody else as a fictional character.
Pride of Baghdad
The story about a group of Lions that escape the Baghdad zoo after it’s been bombed. It’s based on a true story and the execution is sheer perfection. (Even if the story is almost formulaic at times)
Lucifer - Vol 1 - 6
It’s a spin-off from the Sandman series, so you probably want to start with that. It deals a lot of matters of faith, the creation myth and free will.
Astro City
Start with the Confessor arc, and move to the rest. Personally, I think it’s still the seminal work of dealing with Superheroes in a real world sort of way. (That isn’t Alan Moore.) Others do so with grittiness and tons of cynical angst, (Ultimates, I’m looking at you) but Astro City delved into family, regret, guilt consciences, etc without the wanton superviolence that characterizes other realistic superhero comics.
The other recommendations in the thread are right on the money as well. Particularly, Berlin, Jar of Fools, Planetary, The Authority, Batman: Long Halloween and Dark Victory, We3, Fables, Powers, Criminal.
I’ll echo the recommend for Lucifer. It’s one of my favorite things ever. It’s a tremendous take on the figure of the Devil and I think it ends tremendously well.
And I want to endorse Sleeper as well. That was an awesome ride. Criminal is very cool too, but I kinda miss the superpower angle.
I should have mentioned that I absolutely do like superheroes. I didn’t mean to imply that classic superhero comics wouldn’t count. If there’s a fantastic Marvel superhero graphic novel, that’s fine too.
And I had no idea Lutes was such a big star! He’s my new hero ;)
Thanks, Marcin. I thought those were about the monthlies, which I don’t really want. They’re too expensive and I’m not really a collector. I’d just like to read some good graphic stories. However, I had no idea about the “Essential” line. That could be good for someone who never read a lot of those. Seeing the cover to some of those X-Men books reminds me of when I read comics as a kid in the 80s. Good times.
A lot of the monthlies mentioned in those threads are out in TPB form, unless you mean things that are still ongoing in which case I can completely agree. I really like Powers, Invincible, Walking Dead, 100 Bullets, but after thirteen books in the case of the latter, I really wouldn’t mind a wrap-up.
Series that are complete that come to mind: Transmetropolitan. Sleeper. Top Ten + Smax (or as complete as they will be). Astro City is (mostly) unconnected stories so any TPB you grab will be great. Ultra. Empire. Ronin.
Hitman would be complete if they put out 30-60 in TPB form GRRRRR. I think that’s all I can remember offhand.
I’ll second a recommendation for Fell: my only complaint is that the publishing schedule is some combination of “erratic” and “glacial.” For pure action with liberal slices of humor, it’s hard to beat Ellis’s other recent series, Nextwave; or Adam Warren’s Empowered, unless you hate light bondage, sex, and fun. And as long as we’re pimping Qt3’s own, Phonogram is cool if you like its “pop music + magic” premise and/or Jamie McKelvie’s artwork.
