Recommend me some comics

[Space Pirate Roberts]

I'm thinking of getting back into comics now that I've got a steady income again, but I've been out of the loop so long I don't really know what's good these days. Mind you I'm not really interested in the whole "buy all the Spidey books because they're Spidey books" mentality... if I'm gonna follow anybody, it's gonna be creators, not characters (and sure as hell not Super-Mega-Events - House of Civil Planet Disassembled and Crisis of the Month and their expectation that I buy 50 books a month to get the whole story can bite my ass). As to company/universe preference... I have none. Grew up reading both and didn't realize the difference til I was like 12.

[Brand]

Runaways is pretty awesome. It's about a bunch of kids who find out there parents are super villains and need to stop them from destroying humanity. Brian K. Vaughan wrote all of volume 1 and up to 24 in volume 2, Joss Whedon is taking over next issue. This week came out Runaways Saga which tells the story from the beginning to last issues, but honestly I'd get the digests (there are 6 so far and they are 7.99 each) that way you get to read everything. This comes out monthly from Marvel.

I'll also recommend Nextwave written by Warren Ellis, most awesome comic ever, if you like sarcastic comedy. It just finished a 12 issue run, I know you can pick up a trade of the first 6 issues.


I'll recommend some more later.

[Some Stupid Japanese Name]

What creators have you followed in the past? I've always had a soft spot for Warren Ellis (Fell, Thunderbolts, New Universal), Peter David (X Factor, Fallen Angel, Friendly Neighborhood Spiderman), and Mark Waid (Supergirl and the Legion of Superheroes). I don't really follow artists too much anymore because 95% of them are totally interchangeable. One artist I have come to appreciate is David Finch, and he's been doing the new Moon Knight series. Great art and writing on that one.
Newer series that I'm digging are Justice League and Justice Society. They recently rebooted and both are very solid titles right now. I don't know if you ever read Waid/Ross Kingdom Come, but I loved it and Justice Society seems to be turning into a prequel to that book.
If you have ever been into Captain America or Daredevil, Ed Brubaker is doing some really good stuff with those books.
If you are into non-spandex stuff I'd recommend some Vertigo stuff. The Exterminators and Scalped are two recent series that have some cool storylines going on. Also check out DMZ by Brian Wood.
Those are all series that have ~13 or less issues under their belt, so it's not like you're missing out on 5 years of continuity. Longer series that I would recommend are Fables, Ex Machina, Planetary, and 100 bullets.
Also, I heard it has been dropped by Wildstorm but thankfully picked up by another publisher, The Boys by Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson is a hilarious look at the superhero genre. Almost like a sarcastic take on Watchmen....with gerbling going on.

[Advocate]

Ex Machina is the most under rated comic. But its very good. Planetary is as well. I have heard form a bunch of people that Runaways is an awesome read. Hear it once ... you dismiss it. Hear it from 10 people ... its gotta be good. I have nothing to add, because I am with Lord Perrin. I've been out of the loop for over a year. But I remember reading Ex Machina and Planetary.

[Bacon McShig]

Top 10 by Alan Moore is the finest comic I've read in the past decade. It's about a police force in a city where everyone has super-powers. It was a pretty short series, too, so it won't set you back a lot. Buy book 1 and 2 first, then if you like that, get The Forty-Niners (and maybe Smax). Avoid 'Beyond the Farthest Precinct', it's bollocks.

Most of the other books in the America's Best Comics line were quality as well. Tom Strong is a solid throwback to adventure serials, Promethea is a heady mythology/occult/existentialism ride, League of Extraordinary Gentlemen is a superhero team-up book wherein the superheroes are Victorian-era fiction mainstays. Tomorrow Stories is the weakest of the bunch, as it's kind of a mishmash of short send-ups that aren't particularly complementary together thematically, although taken seperately they're mostly pretty solid.

Some other semi-recent favorites: Y the Last Man, Daredevil, The Ultimates, Scott Pilgrim, Punisher (when written by Ennis), Fables, WE3, Dini's current run on Detective Comics, Batman/Superman (Ed McGuinness issues especially), Most stuff by Loeb/Sale (Batman: Long Halloween, Spider-man: Blue, Superman for All Seasons, etc.), Darwyn Cooke's new Spirit series, Body Bags, Blankets...

Manga: Vagabond, Eyeshield 21, Death Note, Blade of the Immortal, One Piece, Bleach, Monster, Uzumaki, Jojo's Bizarre Adventure, Genshiken

[Some Stupid Japanese Name]

Back a few years ago Alan Moore had a fantastic run on Supreme. He basically turned Supreme into a Superman/Captain Marvel analog. I've read Top Ten and League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, but have any of his other ABC been as strong as his Supreme work? How was Promethia? I'm thinking that was like a Wonder Woman type thing.

[Bacon McShig]

I only read a issue or two of that Supreme run, didn't really see it in stores consistently. I also remember really liking his Youngblood run, although that only lasted like 3 issues. Man, Awesome Comics was such a mess. I think I'll dig through my collection and try to find some of that stuff soon.

You'd probably like Tom Strong, as the same artist that did most of the Supreme issues, Chris Sprouse, is the primary artist on it.

As for Promethea, it starts out as a kinda simple superhero thing, but then it forks into a wordy philosophical bent that melts together a lot of occult/religious/mythological ideas. It's interesting stuff.

[Advocate]

The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen was a great comic. Do not read it thinking its the movie. ITS NOT! Comic >>>>>>>>>>>20x better than movie

[Brand]

The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen was a great comic. Do not read it thinking its the movie. ITS NOT! Comic >>>>>>>>>>>20x better than movie

Really the movie almost seems they heard the concept thought it was cool but never read the comics at all.

[Space Pirate Roberts]

What creators have you followed in the past?

None. I haven't actively read/collected comics in about ten or fifteen years, and back then I was in the "stupid kid following characters" phase. I can say that this was what got me interested in starting again, so Busiek oughtta be a safe bet.

Thanks for the recommendations, everyone.