What is your Favorite Graphic Novel/Trade Paperback Collection?

What is your favorite graphic novel/trade paperback collection and why?

I keep track of everything I've read and I rate them 1-5, with 1 being unreadable and 5 being extremely enjoyable. In no particular order, here are my 5s:

- Civil War: Iron Man
I'll be the first to admit I'm not a big Iron Man fan, but the way these three or four issues were presented and written is amazing. I love it when stories come full circle, and this is a perfect example of that.

- Locke & Key Volume 1: Welcome To Lovecraft
I want to buy/read the others but they always command a high price on eBay/Amazon. Maybe a little later. I REALLY enjoyed this first volume. The characters, the mystery of the house. I love reading and watching things that don't give away all the secrets too soon. Lost, Morning Glories, etc. I love being kept in the dark, and because I watch so much television, so many movies, and read so many books/comics, I can figure things out very early on most of the time. When I can't, I'm in love.

- Suicide Squad Volume 1: Kicked In The Teeth
Bad guys doing bad things. The characters are all so fleshed out, and seeing such diverse personalities forced to work together is very entertaining. I've read the next two volumes and they were both 4s. Very, very good. And God DAMN Harley Quinn is sexy! Dirty sexy! lol

- Wolverine: Old Man Logan
I have read a lot of Wolverine stories over the years, but this is easily near the very top of my list. Nothing more needs to be said. If you haven't read it yet, read it now. You will 100% not regret it.

- Morning Glories Volume 1: For A Better Future
Just like with Locke & Key above, this series seems to be all about the mystery. Setting things up without explaining them, great characters, etc. It gave me the same feeling of watching Lost for the first time, although these characters are in a prep school rather than on an island. I haven't read the next books in the series yet, but I am very much looking forward to it)

- Wolverine Goes To Hell
A bloody, violent, damn-near sadistic take on Wolverine. He's endured a lot of pain over the years but his trip to Hell has everything beat. Very enjoyable. I gave the next volume (Wolverine Vs. The X-Men) a 4, it was still a really good read, but not quite "5" material. I have the next three volumes in the series (Wolverine's Revenge, Goodbye Chinatown, and Back In Japan) but I have some other things to read before I get to them)

- Irredeemable Volumes 1-5
What an amazing series. Top of the line. Great idea, great writing, great twists, great characters, great artwork. Everything is wonderful. The next five volumes seem to be going for around $10-15 each, which is a little higher than I want to pay at the moment, but I am very excited to see how this series ends up.

- Deadpool Kills The Marvel Universe/Deadpool: Killustrated/Deadpool Kills Deadpool
I haven't read too much Deadpool --this is the first I've read-- but I love the character. Fun and violence. And fun. And more violence. :)

- Marvels
Beautiful artwork, wonderful idea (point-of-view story of a regular guy in a world full of the Marvel super-heroes.)

- The Cape
I read this before I read Irredeemable, but it has the same basic premise. What if a Superman-like character decides not to use his powers for good? This one goes a little further and asks What if a Superman-like character is fucking nuts? lol

- The Dark Tower Volume 1: The Gunslinger Born
Wonderful story (duh), wonderful artwork. I haven't read the entire series yet, and although the next three (Long Road Home, Treachery, Fall of Gilead) are 4s, I felt like this introduction into the story was exceptional.

- The Sandman series (Volumes 1-10)
Not every volume was a 5 (in fact, I only rated five volumes 5s: Preludes & Nocturnes, The Doll's House, Season Of Mists, Brief Lives, The Kindly Ones) but the entire series from beginning to end was one hell of a journey. Probably my favorite comic series of all time. When I was reading this series, I felt like I was reading something important.

- Ultimate X-Men
I'm almost done with this series, and so far I've given six out of the eighteen volumes 5s. This series took the idea of the X-Men and rearranged everything. I'm loving reading this series and I don't want it to end.

- The Death Of Superman
This collection is one of my few connections to my childhood. The set-up is wonderful, and the final battle with its huge, one-page panels ... it's something that'll stick with me forever.

- Batman: Knightfall
There are three volumes, and it DOES slow down a bit in the middle, but for the most part, it's a 5. Just like the above entry, the Breaking of the Bat storyline was one of my favorite things in the world as a child. The Dark Knight Rises was a fairly bad adaptation of the story. I liked the movie a lot, don't get me wrong. But the original material was something epic.

- Superman: Grounded Volume 1
I feel like the second volume let me down, but the first volume, with Superman taking the time to actually slow down and WALK ... Great idea. Just like ...

- All-Star Superman Volumes 1 and 2
Just an extremely well-written story from start to finish.

- Batman: Hush
A mysterious new(?) villain, the entire rogue's gallery of Batman villains, and non-stop action. Great story.

- Batman: A Death in the Family
What a brutal comic. Even though no one really liked/s Robin, actually seeing him die was very heartbreaking.

- Arkham Asylum - A Serious House On Serious Earth
Oh wow, where do I start with this one? This graphic novel is so unique that it almost defies explanation. This is lunacy. Beautiful, poetic, deranged artwork and a beautiful, poetic, deranged story. This is one of the best things I have ever had the honor of reading.

- Batman: The Killing Joke
Again, brutal. Man, the Joker's had some intense storylines over the year's, hasn't he? Well, in this one he shoots Commissioner Gordon's daughter in the spine --on purpose-- just for the fun of it. All to fuck with Gordon. Love it! lol

I have a new series to read - usagi yojimbo - by Stan Sakai. I was always interested in this one - but it's been running for so long (up to volume 27) that it would really break the bank to start. Fortunately I was able to trade an extra set of miracleman trades (a great series by the way) plus a little cash to get the full run (and now I can preorder volume 28 and future volumes). So I'll let you know how this one is - but who wouldn't love a rabbit samuri? I guess this character has made its way into teenage mutant ninja turtles in the past as well.

they were going to do Usagi Yojimbo in space as a cartoon series around the time of Bucky O'Hare and The Toad Wars then when that got cancelled the canned the project but Usagi was to appear years later in TMNT

It's funny; I haven't read any of those for a long time, but I was just thinking of Usagi Yojimbo for no particular reason the other day. Y'all familiar with Cerebus the aardvark?

I have to second "Marvels," Shannon. And Alex's Ross's "Kingdom Come" is a beautiful piece of work.

"Sandman" really? You want to include full series? Well, Vertigo is awesome in general, and I also dig Alan Moore very much. How about "V for Vendetta" TPB?

If you like comedy, an all-time favorite is "Tank Girl." The original; later versions go too far I think.

Hmm... tough question, really -- there's a lot to choose from. :orely:

I rarely ever read anything in TPB form, but they are all just collected issues of series anyway, so I will just list series. :P

The Sandman is way near the top of my list, as is Morning Glories.

Transmetropolitan(obviously). I just love Spider Jerusalem, his asshole nature, his biting wit, his misanthropy. Plus, I had to make sure I included it in my list here to combat Shannon in the other thread. :P

Y: The Last Man: I think that this is a nearly perfect story from beginning to end. Brian K. Vaughn is amazing. Honestly, all of his work deserves to be on this list somewhere.

DMZ: "This series is set in the near future, where a second American civil war has turned the island of Manhattan into a demilitarized zone (DMZ), caught between forces of the United States of America and secessionist Free States of America." I try to encourage people to read this series all the time. It is what really got me into Brian Wood's work. I love it. I tore through the issues and could hardly put it down long enough to do other stuff.

Annihilation: I loved this Marvel Event. It happened during Civil War. Annihilus breaks into out dimension from the negative zone and starts destroying his way across the universe with a horde of unstoppable horde of Negative Zone battleships. The heroes of Earth are too busy fighting each other and no one picks up the phone. Annihilation takes a bunch of third string Marvel characters and makes you really care about them. One of the main focuses is Richard Ryder(Nova). I have loved Nova since I read New Warriors as a kid. This(and the follow-up Annihilation: Conquest) are good reads right now with the upcoming Guardians movie on the horizon.This is where the groundwork for the current Guardians team is laid. I am actually re-reading this right now. I highly recommend it.

Chapters had a 25% off sale this week and I was just browsing for trades. I noticed some guy pacing and looking a little lost. He eventually approached me and asked if I was into "graphic novels" and I said, "Sure thing, you need some help?" He was going on a long trip and wanted to check out some comics and he was looking for some classic titles. I suggested Batman Knightfall, Preacher, Punisher (Ennis run), Y: The Last Man. He thanked me and sat down with all of them for a few minutes. He ended up putting everything back except Transmetropolitan. I get that sort of maniacal writing isn't for everyone but to be considered one of the worst books ever? Surely there's a rehashed rehash of a rehash of some Spiderman story out there or some unreadable Leidfield Image book from '90s.

Howard Chaykin's "American Flagg" series, as a teenager this fantasy.sifi series blew my young mind.

The Micronauts - the first 12 issues are some of the best, most fun writing and finest artwork (Michael Golden) ever put on paper.

I'd have to say Locke & Key is my favorite graphic novel. The story is intense with amazing art, and you can't stop reading it.

Runner ups would have to be Batman: The Long Halloween, Watchmen, and V for Vendetta

DEN by Richard Corben. A perfect mix of Edgar Rice Burroughs & Robert E Howard.

Preacher by Garth Ennis & Steve Dillion. I think I've read this series more times than any other. Highly recommended.

Shang-Chi Master of Kung Fu flounders a bit every time a new artist first gets on board, but once the runs by Gulacey, Zeck, and then Day get going they set a high watermark for Bronze Age mainstream comics. A title well ahead of it's time.

The Metabarons by Alejandro Jodorowsky & Juan Giménez. Sooo good. Reminds me of Dune. Makes you wonder what that film would have been like had Jodorowsky been able to direct it.