My Favorite Graphic Novels/Comics Collections

So, I decided to put together a list of my favorite graphic novels and collections of comics.  Most of these are pretty well known.  All are worth checking out for various reasons.  I've of course enjoyed a lot of other stories, but these are some of my favorites.

Kingdom Come - Mark Waid and Alex Ross - Possible my all-time favorite story.  The story itself is fantastic (in the future, older heroes come out of retirement to get the new ones under control and to teach them what true heroism is), but it's the art that pushes this one over the top.  Alex Ross could paint a grocery bag and it would look amazing, but what he does here, with these larger than life heroes, is truly stunning.

Watchmen - Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons - A pretty obvious choice.  This is the alpha and the omega of graphic novels.  This book, as far as I am concerned, really does deserve all of the praise heaped upon it.  Sometimes the imagery/symbolism is over the top, but mostly, what you are reading, is an incredibly intricate (watch-like) piece of storytelling which some people say is a deconstruction of the superhero genre.  I don't know what that means, but I do know is a towering achievement.

The Ultimates and The Ultimates 2 - Mark Millar and Bryan Hitch - The name "Mark Millar" will show up again on this list.  If you have any interest in a well-written, big time superhero team book about heroes taking on big threats, this is the book.  Seriously, this is the $%^&ing book.  In a lot of ways, the Marvel Superhero movies are based on these books more than they are on the traditional Avengers books.  These are fun, accessible books with a real cinematic feel to the artwork.

The Authority: Relentless and The Authority: Under New Management - Warren Ellis, Bryan Hitch, Mark Millar and Frank Quitely - If you're looking for another big-time superhero book with wit and style and with a fantastic, cinematic feel to it, this is another place to look.  The first 2 volumes involve fighting invaders from another planet, terrorists, the entire Marvel Universe of superheroes, and a giant creature that is essentially God.  Plus, you have to love Midnighter and Apollo where the authors basically create Superman & Batman analogues that are romantically involved with one another.  Brilliant writing and artwork.

Superman for All Seasons - Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale - this book is pure magic.  If you're looking for a straightforward, relatively family friendly story, this is the place.  If you're looking for a beautifully told and illustrated story about the early years of Superman with humor and heart.  This is the place.  In fact, this book basically inspired Smallville (which I loved).  The team of Loeb and Sale will show up again on this list.

All-Star Superman (generally sold as 2 volumes) - Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely - Up there with kingdom Come for the definitive take on Superman.  Beautiful art (seriously, some of Frank Quitely's pages are just ridiculous), compelling and wonderfully written story, this is the whole package.  This presents a larger-than-life, thoughtful, intelligent Superman.  Also, they get points for effectively conveying Superman's origins in one page.  One page!  That's all you need.

Superman: Red Son - Mark Millar - Mark Millar must be my favorite artist, because in addition to these items I've already mentioned, he also wrote a bunch stories that would be in my next tier of stories that I love like Wolverine: Old Man Logan (Wolverine is the only surviving hero as an old guy, and the bad guys have taken over), and Marvel 1985 (real Marvel superheroes and villains show up in a town in 1985), both of which confirm what I love about Millar, which is that he gets what comics should be a about - big, ridiculous, fun ideas.  Now about Superman: Red Son, the concept is simple: Superman lands in Russia instead of Kansas.  That's all you need to know.  The book is insanely fun, and has great twists on what you know from the regular DC universe.  Read this book.

Wanted - Mark Millar and J.G. Jones - Mark Millar again.  Love that #$%^ing guy.  In this one, the Supervillains secretly control everything, and this loser finds out he's actually the worlds greatest killer and joins the secret society of supervillains.  Like Harry Potter or the Matrix, but about a bad guy.  Crazy fun.

Astro City - Kurt Busiek, Alex Ross and Brent Anderson (multiple volumes) - This is a fantastic series, but I'm not sure which book in particular to point a reader to.  I'd start with the first collection, "life in the Big City".  It provides a nice overview to the world of Astro City.  These are stories from a world where there are lots of superheroes, and you see the world both from the perspective of the Superheroes and from the perspective of regular people.  Or, low-level grunts in a super villain's organization.  The writing here is top-notch, the stories are moving, funny, sad, dramatic and everything else.  The concept here is kind of a continuation of the idea that Busiek and Ross first came up with in Marvels.  

Batman: The Long Halloween - Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale - Loeb and Sale come together again to make magic.  This story is so very good, and the art is over the top, but in a very enjoyable way.  A long, good mystery for Batman to solve early in his career.  Also great if you like "Godfather" references.

Marvels - Kurt Busiek and Alex Ross - Alex Ross is the man.  Seriously, even if the story is crap, his art could make it worth getting.  However, here the story is wonderful.  It's a retelling of the early history of the Marvel universe, from the perspective of regular people who experienced it.

Planet Hulk - Greg Pak - Hulk is sent away by the superheroes to another planet and he meets a new, memorable group of warriors and has awesome adventures.  All you need to know.  Well, also the art is fantastic, I really like this characterization of the Hulk (not stupid, but not the "merged" brainy professor Hulk either, very much aware that he is a savage force of nature), and the story and action are really compelling.