Best comic book/ graphic novel ever?

“V for Vendetta” would get my vote. Other very good titles would include the Preacher series, “League of Extraordinary Gentlemen”, the first Sandman album and that Sin City where this huge, crazy guy goes after some dude who whacked his girlfriend.

V for Vendetta is good. Watchmen is good too. Check out Grendel War Child if you haven’t already. :slight_smile:

Everyone is going to have their favorite. Can’t get around that. The “Dark Phoenix Saga” storyline of The X-Men is one of my faves. But I would have to say one of the all time best is definitely, Watchmen. It’s not a simple read - has one of the most engrossing storylines, the art does not distract from the story but enhances. Truly a great book - and if you know of anything about Eastern Religion, it will add a whole new layer to the story. A good friend and I recently spent sometime dissecting the story recently. Total head trip.

I should have added “Hard Boiled” to my post. I’ve always loved that 3-book series. I got to even have Frank Miller sign it - would love to have Geoff Darrow sign it someday, too (love his art!).

Patricia

My favorite would have to be team7 by image, it came out about 6-7 years ago. Any of the Batman series (especially frank millers stuff)

By the first Sandman Album I assume you’re referring to the first 8 issues that came out in trade as Preludes and Nocturnes?



Personally, as a collection, I prefer Season of the Mists and The Wake.



Individually, however, A Midsummer Night’s Dream is arguably the best single issue. Interestingly enough, it won the World Fantasy Award for best short story and the rest of the authors got so snotty that a mere ‘comic’ could win such an award that they changed the rules so that graphic novels were no longer eligible.



For story development, Warren Ellis’ ‘Transmetropoliton’ is a modern classic.
I think a lot of Ellis’ stuff is crap, but Transmet is great.



Matt Wagner’s MAGE: The Hero Defined and the Hero Discoverd are excellent, Matt is the same guy that originally did Grendal.



aarrgghhh mind gone blank…

“Lucifer” is my fave right now. I love tackling God!

Kingdom Come is high on my list, as well as all those huge painted Paul Dini/Alex Ross books that have come out the past few years (Superman:Peace on Earth, Batman: War on Crime, Wonder Woman: Spirit of Truth, and Shazam: Power of Hope). And Watchmen is a tremendous classic.

To add to this topic, I’m curious as to who your favorite comic writers are. More than ever, comic book writing has grown to be sophisticated and entertaining as opposed to simple good guy beats up bad guy. And I’m sure we pick up comics for good stories.

My favorites right now are (off the top of my head): J. Michael Straczynski, Paul Jenkins and Jeph Loeb.

FANTOMAS

Mark Waid, Barbra Kessel and Ron Marz for writers.

I forgot to add one of the best Batman stories: “The Killing Joke”. Written by Alan Moore, art by Brian Bolland (kickass art, too).

There's one of my favorite writers: Alan Moore. Next up, Grant Morrison. And I'm with nkeago on the CrossGen writers.

But folks, there are some talented artist/writer combos, too. Comic books right now, are just so rich with talent and great stuff. After the "no substance, all gimmicks" crapfest of the early to mid-90's - it's been SO refreshing to READ the books not just LOOK at them and store 'em away.

A lot of great stuff has already been mentioned (I won’t make any repeats). Some series I like are Hitman and Suicide Squad. For limited series ShockRockets (would make a great movie) and DC One Million (only comic I’ve seen to use Kardashev’s civilization classification and tears “cosmic beings” a new a##hole in my book). Some of my favorite authors are Ennis, Waid, Busiek, Morrison, and Peter Gillis. For every author which just came to mind, there are at least 3 more of equal talent. That’s probably a very conservative estimate too. I think Patricia hit the nail on the head in the last paragraph of her post above mine.