I wrote this a few years ago. I'm not sure what kind of website I want to have right now but I have to put something in here, so here's a little bit of a warm up. I've updated, tweaked and edited it a bit for this page. If you come back to this site tomorrow and find absolutely nothing about comics, then that means I made: a decision! In the meantime, everything here is merely my opinion. I'm not trying to stir up any uproars, so don't be upset if your favorite comic isn't listed. Enjoy ... and wish me luck.
-Tuckandroll
(be sure and visit my wife's page)
Attention Myster Science Theater 3000 fans! Have you been to the official save MST3K site?
Unfortunately, it is generally the artwork that sells a comic book, but ask yourself, "Would I rather read a good story with bad art or a bad story with good art?" I can't answer for all of those comic buyers out there, but for me the story should always come before the art. The following is my list of some of the best comic stories I've read in my past five years (and counting) as a comic collector. If you're looking for a good read, check 'em out, and hey, if you like the art ... well, that's just icing on the cake. All of the following are available in book format.
The Uncanny X-Men: The Dark Phoenix Saga
Plot / Script: Chris Claremont
Plot / Pencils: John Byrne
Inks: Terry Austin
At Marvel Comics, the best way to sell a book is to stick a few X-Men in it. If you ever wondered what all of the fuss is about, The Dark Phoenix Saga is the perfect storyline to introduce yourself to the X-Men. It features most of the all-time favorite team members: Cyclops, Jean Grey, Wolverine, Storm, the Beast, Angel, Nightcrawler, Kitty Pryde, Dazzler, Banshee and Colossus. The X-Men are mutants, each born with powers that they use to protect mankind from evil. Sure it sounds corny, but anytime you delve into the super hero genre, you risk sounding corny when you strip the concept to the bare bones. In fact, Marvel has turned its mutant concept into a metaphor for the prejudices of the real world. Mutants are a minority in the Marvel Universe and often face the same problems that blacks, Hispanics and gays face in our world. In effect the X-Men comics teach younger readers about the evils of prejudice without their realizing it.
But enough about the basic concept behind the X-Men, in The Dark Phoenix Saga, one of the original X-Men, Jean Grey, also known as Marvel Girl, has, through cosmic forces been transformed into Phoenix. As Marvel Girl, Jean had limited telekinetic and telepathic powers, as Phoenix she reaches the full extent of these capabilities and becomes one of the most powerful beings in the universe, but as it has been said, "Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely," and Jean is far from ready to deal with godlike powers. Eventually the power consumes her and she becomes Dark Phoenix, wielding her power in what ever way she sees fit with no regard to the consequences.
Ultimately, Dark Phoenix takes the life of an entire race of beings and is tried for genocide resulting in one of the most surprising endings in Marvel's history.
Spider-Man: Fearful Symmetry: Kraven's Last Hunt
Writer: J. M. DeMatteis
Pencils: Mike Zeck
Inks: Bob McLeod
You, of course, know that Spider-Man is Peter Parker, who was bitten by a radioactive spider and given the proportional strength and abilities of the arachnid. Fearful Symmetry is Spider-Man's last meeting with one of his oldest enemies, Kraven the Hunter, a Russian big game hunter who has always seen Spider-Man as his most elusive quarry. In their final clash, Kraven shoots Spidey with a strong tranquilizer and buries him alive, then as his foe fights his way to the surface, Kraven dons the Spider-Man costume in an attempt to prove himself the web-slinger's superior.
Fearful Symmetry is, by far, the best Spider-Man story I have ever read. It delves into the psyches of its various characters and produces a dark and moody tale, not the usual tone we expect from a Spider-Man story.
Maus: A Survivor's Tale Parts 1 and 2
by Art Spiegleman
Truly the most effective use of the comic book medium to date and winner of a special Pulitzer Prize ( a first for the industry), Maus is the story of Art Spiegleman's father Vladek and his experiences as a Polish Jew during World War II. Vladek's experiences are traced from hiding from the Nazis in occupied Poland through his encampment in and eventual liberation from Auschwitz. The books also tells us of Art's strained relationship with his father in the present and of the man Vladek has become in the forty years since his experiences.
This true story is startling enough on its own, but Spiegleman casts a metaphor over the whole thing by drawing all of the Jews as mice and the Nazis as cats, making it all the more poignant.
Batman: Year One
Writer: Frank Miller
Artist: David Mazzucchelli
and
Batman: The Dark Knight Returns
Writer / Pencils: Frank Miller
Inks: Klaus Janson
These two Batman stories by Frank Miller are an excellent pair of bookends for Batman fans. The first is exactly what the title implies, the first year of Bruce Wayne's crusade against crime in Gotham City and his rise from feared vigilante to respected police ally.
The Dark Knight Returns takes us to the other extreme as we witness the Batman's possible future, as Bruce Wayne once again dons the cape and cowl after ten years in retirement, now with the corruptness of Gotham's underworld beginning to take its toll on his mind.
Batman: The Killing Joke
Writer: Alan Moore
Artist: Brian Bolland
A frightening tale where Batman's greatest enemy , the Joker, kidnaps Commissioner Gordon and attempts to drive him insane in a twisted amusement park, all in an effort to prove to Batman just how easy it is to be driven over the edge, just as the Joker was many years before. The story also relates, in flashback, what may or may not be exactly how the Joker, himself, was driven over the edge, giving a tragic side to the homicidal psychotic.
Daredevil: Born Again
Writer: Frank Miller
Artist: David Mazzucchelli
In this story, Miller sends Matt Murdock, Marvel's blind lawyer turned crimefighter through the ringer. Matt's ex-girlfriend, Karen Page, who has been through tough times after being led into pornography and a heroin addiction, sells his secret identity in order to feed her habit. The buyer is Wilson Fisk, New York's leading crimelord known as the Kingpin, and Daredevil's arch-enemy, who immediately proceeds to ruin Murdock's career. Born Again traces Daredevil's rise out of ruin into a more street hardened crimefighter.
The Sandman:
Preludes And Nocturnes
The Doll's House
Dream Country
Season of Mists
Fables And Reflections
A Game of You
Brief Lives
Worlds' End
The Kindly Ones
The Wake
Death: The High Cost Of Living
Death: The Time of Your Life
All written by Neil Gaiman with various artists
The Sandman is by far the most intelligent comic on the market. Its main character is Morpheus, king of the Dreaming, the land we all travel in as we sleep. Sometimes his the central focus of the story, at others he is merely a catalyst.
In the first book, Preludes And Nocturnes, a turn of the century religious cult attempts to capture Death but mistakenly net Morpheus, Death's younger brother, after spending most of the twentieth century imprisoned, Morpheus escapes his captors only to find his kingdom reduced to shambles in his absence. He sets out to find talismans that were stolen from him while imprisoned: his helm, which is now in the possession of a demon in Hell and his ruby which is being wielded by an insane nihilist called Dr. Dee, who uses it to spark worldwide violence.
Rather than describe each of the other books, I'll leave you with the confidence that if you made it through and enjoyed the first book you'll feel compelled to press on, as all Sandman stories are fascinating in one way or another. And somewhere along the way you'll meet Death, one of Gaiman's most charming creations, so you'll also want to check out the book Death: The High Cost Of Living, a Sandman spin-off. Believe me, this Death is no grim reaper.
The Complete Elfquest: Volumes 1-8
Elfquest: The Hidden Years
by Wendy and Richard Pini
Whereas The Sandman will stimulate your intellect, Elfquest will stir up your emotions. The elves in Elfquest are the scattered descendants of enlightened star travelers who were accidentally stranded on this primitive world of two moons. The main focus of these descendants are a tribe of elves called Wolfriders who seek to unite the separated children of these "High Ones".
The first four volumes tell how Cutter, chief of the Wolfriders leads his tribe out of their forest home, when it is burned down by humans. They journey across the desert to find a second tribe of elves called Sun-Folk. The new knowledge that they are not the only elves in this world send them in search of more tribes and eventually the vessel that brought the High Ones to this world. As with The Sandman reading the first Elfquest story will make you hungry for more. So, I'll leave the rest for you to discover yourself.
Watchmen
Writer: Alan Moore
Artist: Dave Gibbons
Ever wonder what the world would be like if there really were costumed crimefighters or if someone really were to be endowed with super powers? Watchmen is the closest any writer has come yet to showing us what such a world would be like. Watchmen takes us through the mid-thirties all the way to the mid-eighties with crimefighters like the Comedian who attempts to rape the Silk Spectre, a fellow adventurer; Nite Owl who finds that a few hours back in costume after years in retirement turns out to be the perfect cure for his impotence; Rorschach, who was pushed over the edge the day he found out how the remains of kidnapped little girl were disposed of; and Dr. Manhattan, the only true super-powered being with seemingly unlimited powers. The story climaxes with some of these "heroes" dealing with a very extreme plan for world peace.
For fans of any superhero story, whether it be Batman, Spider-Man or the Flaming Carrot, this is not a story to be missed.
Ed, The Happy Clown: A Yummy Fur Book
by Chester Brown
I Saved the weirdest for last. It may sound twisted but once you've begun the adventures of this albino in clown make-up who has a tiny talking Ronald Reagan head attached to a certain body part, I swear you won't be able to put it down.
other recommendations:
Sergio Aragonés and Mark Evanier
Groo The Wanderer; The Mighty Magnor, Fanboy, Day of the Dead, The Boogeyman, Mad Magazine
Carl Barks
Donald Duck; Uncle Scrooge
Chester Brown
Yummy Fur, Underwater
John Byrne
Batman; Iron Fist; Superman; Alpha Flight; the Avengers; the Fantastic Four; Iron Man; Spider-Man; Namor; Next Men; Aliens; She-Hulk; 2112; X-Men, the Hulk, Wonder Woman and pretty darn near every character in comics.
Dan G. Chichester
Wolverine; Daredevil; Terror, Inc.; Nightstalkers; Hellraiser; Shadowline
Chris Claremont
The New Mutants; X-Men; Marada She-Wolf; Excalibur; Kitty Pryde and Wolverine; Magik; Wolverine; Aliens / Predator; the Avengers; Iron Fist; Ms. Marvel; X-Factor; Star Trek, Sovereign Seven, Fantastic Four
Peter David
Wolverine; the Hulk; Spider-Man; Star Trek; Star Trek: The Next Generation; The Atlantis Chronicles; Aquaman; X-Factor; Sachs & Violens; The Little Mermaid, Supergirl, Young Justice
Alan Davis
Excalibur; Captain Britain; Wolverine, X-Men, Clandestine
J. M. DeMatteis
Spider-Man; Moonshadow; Mercy; the Justice League; Blood: A Tale; The Last One, Silver Surfer, Brooklyn Dreams
Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Neil Gaiman
Sandman; Black Orchid; Books Of Magic; Miracleman; Death: The High Cost Of Living; Death: The Time of Your Life, Spawn; Signal To Noise; Violent Cases, Stardust
Mark Martin
Gnatrat; Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles; Green-Gray Sponge-Suit Sushi Turtles
Frank Miller
Batman; Daredevil; Hard Boiled; Give Me Liberty; Sin City; Ronin; Robocop Vs. The Terminator; Spawn
Alan Moore
Watchmen; Batman; 1963; From Hell; Miracleman; Spawn; Saga of the Swamp Thing
Jon J. Muth
Dracula: Symphony In Moonlight And Madness; M
Ann Nocenti
Daredevil; Beauty And The Beast (Marvel); Longshot; The New Mutants; Spider-Man; Someplace Strange; Kid Eternity
Wendy and Richard Pini
Elfquest
Don Rosa
Donald Duck; Uncle Scrooge
Louise Simonson
Havok and Wolverine; The New Mutants; X-Factor; Superman; Batman
Walter Simonson
Havok and Wolverine; Wolverine; Fantastic Four
Art Spiegleman
Maus; Raw
Jim Starlin
Silver Surfer; Warlock; Thanos; Batman; the Punisher; X-Factor
Rick Veitch
Brat Pack; Maximortal; Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles; The One
Alex Ross
Marvels, Kingdom Come, Astro City, Earth X, Uncle Sam
Kurt Busiek
Astro City, Avengers, Thunderbolts
Bob Burden
Flaming Carrot Comics, The Mysterymen
A few things I might have included if they had been written before I wrote this. Thunderbolts, by Kurt Busiek and Mark Bagley
Kingdom Come by Alex Ross and Mark Waid
Batman: The Long Halloween by Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale
Bone by Jeff Smith
The Big Book of Death, The Big Book of Weirdos and The Big Book of Urban Legends, and probably a bunch of other Big Books I haven't gotten around to from Paradox Press
Brooklyn Dreams by J.M. DeMatteis and Glenn Barr (Keep an eye out for this little gem, it's published in four installments by Paradox Press, and each installment is about the height and width of a mass market paperback.)
Stardust by Neil Gaiman and Charles Vess
Starman by James Robinson, et al
many more things I'm not remembering right now.
E-mail tuckandroll at wolfsong@mpinet.net.
