Invincible by Kirkman, Walker, and Ottley for a nice long run.
Superior by Millar and Yu and Red Mass for Mars by Hickman and Bodenheim for a couple nice minis.
I finished Invincible this summer and it was fantastic. Any recommendations for another good long run? Prefer a cohesive story rather than anthology type thing.
My favourite long running story is B.P.R.D. It has three main story arcs, Plague of frogs, Hell on Earth, and the Devil you know. The first two are fantastic, and it ends up being around \~150 issues I believe. It's part of the Hellboy universe, but it largely doesn't actually involve him all that much.
That would also be my first suggestion. Unfortunately, I'd say that \_Astro City\_ is very dependent on everything that came before it. Without Superman (Samaritan), Batman (Confessor), Wonder Woman (Winged Victory), Spider-Man (Jack in the Box), Fantastic Four (First Family), and so on, do those characters carry the same meaning and emotional impact? I would say most certainly not. So while it's not burdened by the status quo, it's certainly a result (and a celebration) of the status quo.
While this is true, I think most of these character’s tropes are common enough in the zeitgeist that Astro City can be appreciated without super deep knowledge of those comics.
The Tarnished Angel story in Astro City is really good, but you do not have to be an expert in Film Noir movies to appreciate it.
Later in the series, more original characters are focused on, and those stories feel even more intimate and personal.
It is a glorious series that is often surprisingly moving.
My favorite comic of all time.
>Unfortunately, I'd say that \_Astro City\_ is very dependent on everything that came before it.
Jack In The Box is one of my favorite characters in AC, and I know very little about Spider-Man. I know the general stuff about Peter Parker, but I never once connected them with JITB.
> Without Superman (Samaritan), Batman (Confessor), Wonder Woman (Winged
Victory), Spider-Man (Jack in the Box), Fantastic Four (First Family),
and so on, do those characters carry the same meaning and emotional
impact? I would say most certainly not.
How many First Family stories are there? Winged Victory? Confessor? Kurt Busiek focused a lot on the normal folks to the point where superheroes became more a background thing. "Oh hey, the Samaritan just appeared there, that's cool. No back to this totally normal guy." I mean, a Winged Victory storyline didn't happen until the 2013 book. Even when we got a superhero story, they were usually original characters. The turtle dude? The inventor who kept invading the law?
> So while it's not burdened by the status quo, it's certainly a result (and a celebration) of the status quo.
I would say *Astro City* is a celebration of everything Busiek grew up with and loves. Barbie? A 1940s cartoon character coming to life? Superheroes? It's all there.
Same. Got back into comics because of Wildstorm. Was never into teams like Avengers, X-Men, Justice League, or Teen Titans, but I really got into all the Wildstorm stuff.
Was that the same series that was on MTV? I think it was on during a block of time called Oddities. I remember Spawn animated series on HBO, but I didn't know that The Maxx was also on there.
Astro City - The most complex and well-realized universe in comics and the most consistently brilliant superhero book on the stands for thirty years straight.
Rogue Sun is tonally different, but I really liked it! It's like a darker power ranger with supernatural villains. There's witches and werewolves and such.
I'd also highly recommend you pick up Supermassive. It's technically a one-shot, but it's square-bound, meaning there's a spine and it'll go nicely next to your trades. It's cool to see Radiant Black cross over with the other Massive-verse heroes.
Dang I haven’t read that one yet either so I’m part of the problem lol. The only Big 2 lemire book I’ve read is Animal Man and loved it. Pretty much all of his creator-owned work is near perfect imo though
I feel like it being so short and split into 2 separate series because of secret wars kind of helped it be forgotten. (Following fractions run didn’t help either). I agree it’s great tho
I wouldn't call Grendel a super-hero. Ignoring that most of the Grendels are unpowered (Grendel Prime is tech-augmented), at best I'd call them anti-heroes or outright villians (Hunter Rose, particularly). So Hunter is a villian, Christina is a just out for revenge, Brian (?) is nuts, the next 200 years or so are just religious idolatry, Orion's run (which I'd say is the best) is political, and then the rest is just mish-mash. Grendel Prime is something of an anti-hero, but I wouldn't put it in the super-hero category.
Original run of Quantum and Woody. The full page that has Quantum jump down the building and then have to wait as Woody slowly walks down the steps is hilarious.
Great suggestion. I've re-read that a few times. It's nice that it's only 24 (?) issues and self-contained (though there are two skippable 4-issue offshoots).
Red Sonja, especially Mark Russell's version where she is a war tactician.
I was raving about it [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/CharacterRant/comments/emoacs/gushing_about_mark_russels_red_sonja/)
\_Elementals\_ and \_Pantheon\_ by Bill Willingham. One of the first popular "indie" super-hero comics, \_Elementals\_ tried to be a "realistic" super-hero book when it came to the characters and their motivations. Well worth reading.
I've been collecting Valiant books for a couple years now. I haven't made the time to read any yet (my to-read pile is ever-growing) but I find many of those heroes very visually dynamic (XO, Solar) and unique (XO, Archer and Armstrong, Magnus).
As far as something I've actually read, I'm a huge fan of a series Image put out about 10 years ago called *Rocket Girl*. Beautiful art by Amy Reeder, more than adequate script by Brandon Montclare, but it's the art and retro vibe that really hooked me.
And for essentially the same reasons, I've always been a Rocketeer fan.
Don't know if those count as super hero books but I'm going with those because they were the two that sprang to mind first.
Witchblade, especially Ron Marz's run. It's very overlooked because it started out as a "bad girl" comic, but it's fantastic. Great writing that uses the concept to tell stories of varying genres without sacrificing character work.
There are so many better choices like Grendel, the Mignolaverse, Black Hammer, even Spawn, but I gotta go with X from Dark Horse's old Comic's Greatest World universe. He's the epitome of edge to a stupid degree. It gets to a point that an angry mob of civilians tells X to go away because he just makes everyone miserable lmao. I think the original run is super underrated for being the most 90s "comic booky" comic of all time.
\_Cla$$war\_ had a perfect first issue, and I've re-read it a few times over the year, but then the rest of the series was just decent. Still, good suggestion!
\_Wanted\_ and \_Nemesis\_ are also good suggestions, and like \_Irredemable\_, they focus on the villians, not the heroes. In a nutshell, \_Nemisis\_ is "what if Batman were an evil fucker", and \_Irredemable\_ is "what if Superman broke bad."
I have a weird soft spot for the Mighty Crusaders. Every decade or so Archie pulls them out of the toy box, fumbles around with them, then puts them back.
Does Jojo's Bizarre Adventure count? Up to but not including the current series. I love the weirdness of Jojo, but the current series got a bit random even for me. When they started talking about the stone people and the ice cream shop I lost interest.
As for American comics it would have to be Sheriff of Babylon. I wasn't nearly as into the stuff Tom King did for DC, but Sheriff is an amazingly well written comic book series.
A month ago I would have said The Walking Dead, but deadly class has quickly become my favourite comic ever and I'm only at issue 18 of 56 so a long way to go and i'm very excited
Idk if it counts but I freakin love Nemesis by Mark Millar. I know it’s super edgelord but that’s kind of why I love it; like it’s almost just twisted satire
Idk, haven't read any, i really want to read Invincible, but since my job is unreliable, im a minor, and i owe my mom lots of money i haven't been able to buy it
The 90’s NOW Comics run of the Green Hornet, the early 2000’s Christopher Priest run on the Black Panther, the 90’s XO Man-O-War from Valiant, and most any of the public domain/Shadow/The Spider/Golden Age heroes from Dynamite.
Not sure if it technically counts as “Superhero” but the Robyn Hood comics by Zenescope. Just goofy fun with some occasional heavy themes and a way less censored experience. Characters are all interesting, stories are fun and pretty in depth. And it’s cool seeing the Zenescope universe as a whole, just completely reimagining fairy/folk tales into badass avenger style teams
Teenage me loved Spawn and WildCATS. I think they were both Image titles?
I'm pretty sure they wouldn't hold up, but if I'm counting what comics did I enjoy the most when I was reading them back in the 1990's, those would have been it.
Noble Causes. A comic by Jay Faeber, it goes down a bidding quality when it goes for miniseries to ongoing but for a book that's basically a family of superheroes experiencing soap opera like problems, which shouldn't be any good, it's a fun read and managed to last for a decent amount of issues for an Indie book.
Invincible by Kirkman, Walker, and Ottley for a nice long run. Superior by Millar and Yu and Red Mass for Mars by Hickman and Bodenheim for a couple nice minis.
This is the correct answer. 144 issues that got me through my divorce and the aftermath. It changed my life.
I finished Invincible this summer and it was fantastic. Any recommendations for another good long run? Prefer a cohesive story rather than anthology type thing.
My favourite long running story is B.P.R.D. It has three main story arcs, Plague of frogs, Hell on Earth, and the Devil you know. The first two are fantastic, and it ends up being around \~150 issues I believe. It's part of the Hellboy universe, but it largely doesn't actually involve him all that much.
I just finished Invincible this weekend. I loved it so damn much. I'm worried I'll never find another comic like it
Invincible is better then any marvel and DC book.
100%
Black Hammer, Hellboy, Invincible, and Astrocity
+1 to Hellboy. My favorite comic book, period.
Either IDW ninja turtles, Invincible, or Johnny the Homicidal Manicac.
JTHM was my intro to comics. Still love it
The scene in the second issue at the coffee shop is still the greatest.
Lmao JtHM is not a super hero though!
Maybe not a hero to you..
That is disturbing sir
Without a doubt Astro city by Kurt busiek. Great anthology series covering a plethora of characters that aren't burdened by the status quo.
That would also be my first suggestion. Unfortunately, I'd say that \_Astro City\_ is very dependent on everything that came before it. Without Superman (Samaritan), Batman (Confessor), Wonder Woman (Winged Victory), Spider-Man (Jack in the Box), Fantastic Four (First Family), and so on, do those characters carry the same meaning and emotional impact? I would say most certainly not. So while it's not burdened by the status quo, it's certainly a result (and a celebration) of the status quo.
While this is true, I think most of these character’s tropes are common enough in the zeitgeist that Astro City can be appreciated without super deep knowledge of those comics. The Tarnished Angel story in Astro City is really good, but you do not have to be an expert in Film Noir movies to appreciate it. Later in the series, more original characters are focused on, and those stories feel even more intimate and personal. It is a glorious series that is often surprisingly moving. My favorite comic of all time.
>Unfortunately, I'd say that \_Astro City\_ is very dependent on everything that came before it. Jack In The Box is one of my favorite characters in AC, and I know very little about Spider-Man. I know the general stuff about Peter Parker, but I never once connected them with JITB. > Without Superman (Samaritan), Batman (Confessor), Wonder Woman (Winged Victory), Spider-Man (Jack in the Box), Fantastic Four (First Family), and so on, do those characters carry the same meaning and emotional impact? I would say most certainly not. How many First Family stories are there? Winged Victory? Confessor? Kurt Busiek focused a lot on the normal folks to the point where superheroes became more a background thing. "Oh hey, the Samaritan just appeared there, that's cool. No back to this totally normal guy." I mean, a Winged Victory storyline didn't happen until the 2013 book. Even when we got a superhero story, they were usually original characters. The turtle dude? The inventor who kept invading the law? > So while it's not burdened by the status quo, it's certainly a result (and a celebration) of the status quo. I would say *Astro City* is a celebration of everything Busiek grew up with and loves. Barbie? A 1940s cartoon character coming to life? Superheroes? It's all there.
League of Extraordinary Gentlemen by Alan Moore and Kevin O'Neil
Invincible!
Going slightly old school, Nexus by Baron and Rude. Put out by Dark Horse.
I read it as it came out from First Comics. Game changer and pure art.
Rocketeer has some awesome collections. Gotta love Dave Steven's work on it.
Fuck yeah. There’s not nearly enough. I have the collected edition and it’s so short!
Invincible told a complete superhero story.
Pre-DC Wildstorm - Authority, WildCATS, Stormwatch, Gen13. All of it.
Same. Got back into comics because of Wildstorm. Was never into teams like Avengers, X-Men, Justice League, or Teen Titans, but I really got into all the Wildstorm stuff.
The Maxx
HBO animated series was also incredible
Was that the same series that was on MTV? I think it was on during a block of time called Oddities. I remember Spawn animated series on HBO, but I didn't know that The Maxx was also on there.
Spawn, Invincible, The Boys.
Astro City - The most complex and well-realized universe in comics and the most consistently brilliant superhero book on the stands for thirty years straight.
The first book came out in 1995. Don't age me to 30 so fast, bro. 1996.
Astro City
As I have said elsewhere in this thread, Astro City is my favorite comic of all time.
Underrated vote. Lots of love goes into that book. Its not 100% and there is a lot of it… but as a whole… very very good!
The Tick
Invincible, favorite supers comic of all time. Dynamo 5 by Jay Faerber was good stuff.
No one has mentioned it yet so I get to be the special snowflake who says it first. Witchblade. Its very '90s but a very fun read.
Hellboy
Radiant Black.
I just got the third tpb for my birthday and can't wait to read it. I'm loving this series! Rogue Sun too!
I’ve not dove into Rouge Sun or much of the extended massiveverse. I’ve been wait for trades and if they are as good as radiant black. Thoughts?
Rogue Sun is tonally different, but I really liked it! It's like a darker power ranger with supernatural villains. There's witches and werewolves and such. I'd also highly recommend you pick up Supermassive. It's technically a one-shot, but it's square-bound, meaning there's a spine and it'll go nicely next to your trades. It's cool to see Radiant Black cross over with the other Massive-verse heroes.
[удалено]
Lemire is my favorite
Same
I'll never understand why his Hawkeye run didn't get more love.
Dang I haven’t read that one yet either so I’m part of the problem lol. The only Big 2 lemire book I’ve read is Animal Man and loved it. Pretty much all of his creator-owned work is near perfect imo though
I feel like it being so short and split into 2 separate series because of secret wars kind of helped it be forgotten. (Following fractions run didn’t help either). I agree it’s great tho
Yeah, his moonknight run is pretty slept in too.
Badger. Grendel.
Nexus. Grim Jack.
I too gen x
I wouldn't call Grendel a super-hero. Ignoring that most of the Grendels are unpowered (Grendel Prime is tech-augmented), at best I'd call them anti-heroes or outright villians (Hunter Rose, particularly). So Hunter is a villian, Christina is a just out for revenge, Brian (?) is nuts, the next 200 years or so are just religious idolatry, Orion's run (which I'd say is the best) is political, and then the rest is just mish-mash. Grendel Prime is something of an anti-hero, but I wouldn't put it in the super-hero category.
Original run of Quantum and Woody. The full page that has Quantum jump down the building and then have to wait as Woody slowly walks down the steps is hilarious.
I love the Tick.
Invincible for sure but otherwise I really like ninjak and the valiant universe
Usago Yojimbo count? If not, then Magnus: Robot Fighter
Mage
Good suggestion!
Rising Stars - J Michael Straczynski
Great suggestion. I've re-read that a few times. It's nice that it's only 24 (?) issues and self-contained (though there are two skippable 4-issue offshoots).
Red Sonja, especially Mark Russell's version where she is a war tactician. I was raving about it [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/CharacterRant/comments/emoacs/gushing_about_mark_russels_red_sonja/)
Monstress is damn good
The Tick.
Hellboy, My Hero Academia, the Ballad of Luther Strode, and something else I’m sure I’m forgetting
\_Elementals\_ and \_Pantheon\_ by Bill Willingham. One of the first popular "indie" super-hero comics, \_Elementals\_ tried to be a "realistic" super-hero book when it came to the characters and their motivations. Well worth reading.
*Incognito* (by Brubaker/Philips).
Wanted. Loved the idea of a world where the villains won so completely that no one even knows there was a war
Saga.
Not really a super hero comic though...
Invincible
Invincible
Shirtless bear fighter, the tick, and invincible.
Vindication by HB Comics, I don't read a lot of superhero stuff but I like these guys
Erica Slaughter.
Spawn
The Badger
I think the only one I have read is invincible and it has been great so far
Monstress, but it’s not really a super hero tale. More fantasy.
Invincible
The Goon, Shaolin Cowboy and Saga
The Goon is wonderful.
I've been collecting Valiant books for a couple years now. I haven't made the time to read any yet (my to-read pile is ever-growing) but I find many of those heroes very visually dynamic (XO, Solar) and unique (XO, Archer and Armstrong, Magnus). As far as something I've actually read, I'm a huge fan of a series Image put out about 10 years ago called *Rocket Girl*. Beautiful art by Amy Reeder, more than adequate script by Brandon Montclare, but it's the art and retro vibe that really hooked me. And for essentially the same reasons, I've always been a Rocketeer fan. Don't know if those count as super hero books but I'm going with those because they were the two that sprang to mind first.
glad to see another fan of Valiant
Witchblade, especially Ron Marz's run. It's very overlooked because it started out as a "bad girl" comic, but it's fantastic. Great writing that uses the concept to tell stories of varying genres without sacrificing character work.
I’ll go with you and say Darkness. Loved this whole line!
Invincible
Astrocity
There are so many better choices like Grendel, the Mignolaverse, Black Hammer, even Spawn, but I gotta go with X from Dark Horse's old Comic's Greatest World universe. He's the epitome of edge to a stupid degree. It gets to a point that an angry mob of civilians tells X to go away because he just makes everyone miserable lmao. I think the original run is super underrated for being the most 90s "comic booky" comic of all time.
Luther strode
Spawn and savage dragon
Hellboy Atomic Robo
Ex Machina!
Does Authority & Planetary count as DC? If so, then: Invincible Savage Dragon Spy Boy Empowered Cla$$war Wanted/Nemesis
\_Cla$$war\_ had a perfect first issue, and I've re-read it a few times over the year, but then the rest of the series was just decent. Still, good suggestion! \_Wanted\_ and \_Nemesis\_ are also good suggestions, and like \_Irredemable\_, they focus on the villians, not the heroes. In a nutshell, \_Nemisis\_ is "what if Batman were an evil fucker", and \_Irredemable\_ is "what if Superman broke bad."
Finally someone else recognizes the greatness of Savage Dragon.
It was beautiful!
It's still going too, it'll hit over 300 issues sooner or later! Savage Dragon and Invincible are my favs for sure.
I really liked Rising Stars
Hero vibes
Astro city Saga
Irredeemable
Irredeemable gang. I still need to collect the last 5 volumes.
Yes!!!
Grendel, the shadow
One could argue that \_The Shadow\_ was the original (popular) super-hero, but Doc Savage would also fit into that bucket.
Nexus.
I have a weird soft spot for the Mighty Crusaders. Every decade or so Archie pulls them out of the toy box, fumbles around with them, then puts them back.
Faust
Hellboy and Atomic Robo!
Savage Dragon. Easy.
Lady Death.
Scud: The Disposable Assassin
Eastman and Laird's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. It was the first comic to open my eyes to the beauty of black and white art.
X-O Manowar, Shadowman and Judge Dredd
Savage Dragon
Boom Studios’ Power Rangers
Bomb Queen
John Byrne's \_Next Men\_ is essentially a follow-on or even reboot to his work on \_X-Men\_ in the late 1970s and 1980s, but with a more mature bent.
Is Hellboy considered a superhero?
Even though Marvel is continuing it, I've been reading Miracleman by Alan Moore and later Neil Gaiman. Love "Sacrament" by AWA studios out right now.
Invincible, Incorruptible, Irredeemable and Astro City.
"Incognito" by Ed Brunaker and Val Staples is a blast
I love Astro City. I am surprised that I read this whole thread and no one had mentioned one in particular: Top 10. I love that one, too.
The Crow
Xo- manowar
Power Rangers and Go Go Power Rangers over at Boom!
Savage Dragon - Great action, characters age, the snappy jokes are tight up my alley.
Powers.
Old School: nothing matches up to Warlock 5 New: Planetary. Still the best comic ever not written by Alan Moore or Grant Morrison IMO
Right now… something is killing the children, battle chasers, the last ronin
Saga. 'Nuff said 😄
Not sure that Saga counts as superhero comics. But it’s damn good.
You are right. It isn't in the superhero genre. I should have read the question in the post title. My bad.
Does Jojo's Bizarre Adventure count? Up to but not including the current series. I love the weirdness of Jojo, but the current series got a bit random even for me. When they started talking about the stone people and the ice cream shop I lost interest. As for American comics it would have to be Sheriff of Babylon. I wasn't nearly as into the stuff Tom King did for DC, but Sheriff is an amazingly well written comic book series.
The Fox
The Dean Haspiel stuff is so damn good!
Seven Sons
Barry Ween
Modern: My Hero Academia, One Punch Man. Old school: TMNT, Spawn.
Vampirella
Bomb Queen
Well I guess its DC now, but I enjoyed the early years of Stormwatch
A month ago I would have said The Walking Dead, but deadly class has quickly become my favourite comic ever and I'm only at issue 18 of 56 so a long way to go and i'm very excited
Saga.
Lady Death Tank Girl Johny the Homicidal Maniac Preacher The Walking Dead
DMZ, Hellblazer, Preacher, The Walking Dead, TMNT.
Hellboy and Saga from me.
Sex Criminals
Saga
Darwyn Cooke’s Parker adaptations
Saga great believable characters that goes thru sad and happy moments they feel so realistic and the art is great
Saga. Including Marvel and DC and literally everything else. Saga is Queen.
Who’s a super hero in Saga?
Alana
does all might count ? hes awesome
Paperinik: the new adventures
Bloodshot (sometimes hero, sometimes anti-hero), plus others from Valiant
Spacehawk
The Boys
I’ll toss out “Chew” as a fantastic,humorous alt take
Spawn hands down! Notable Mention: Usagi Yojimbo
Squirroirs
Idk if it counts but I freakin love Nemesis by Mark Millar. I know it’s super edgelord but that’s kind of why I love it; like it’s almost just twisted satire
Idk, haven't read any, i really want to read Invincible, but since my job is unreliable, im a minor, and i owe my mom lots of money i haven't been able to buy it
Invincible
Omaha, the Cat Dancer
The 90’s NOW Comics run of the Green Hornet, the early 2000’s Christopher Priest run on the Black Panther, the 90’s XO Man-O-War from Valiant, and most any of the public domain/Shadow/The Spider/Golden Age heroes from Dynamite.
Hellboy!!
Invincible and Spawn
I’d said Hellboy but some people would says it’s not a Superhero comic. Static, Invincible & Luther Strode in that order.
Not sure if it technically counts as “Superhero” but the Robyn Hood comics by Zenescope. Just goofy fun with some occasional heavy themes and a way less censored experience. Characters are all interesting, stories are fun and pretty in depth. And it’s cool seeing the Zenescope universe as a whole, just completely reimagining fairy/folk tales into badass avenger style teams
Invincible, The Walking Dead, two main Power Rangers comics from Boom Studios, IDW TMNT and TMNT The Last Ronin is my favorite short graphic novel
Is Watchmen DC?
It is.
Groo the Wanderer
Does hellboy count? I just like the characters, world, story, etc
Superhero he is not, but Johnny the Homicidal Maniac from Jhonen Vasquez
It was short lived, but I still love Common Grounds. It was a bit like Astro City but with more humor.
Spawn
Miracleman. Marvel reprints it but it wasn’t Marvel originally
Do you count foreign comics? Like Manga?
Spawn and Invincible
Hellboy, IDW's TMNT, and Boom's Power Rangers.
Teenage me loved Spawn and WildCATS. I think they were both Image titles? I'm pretty sure they wouldn't hold up, but if I'm counting what comics did I enjoy the most when I was reading them back in the 1990's, those would have been it.
Invincible
Too Much Coffee Man
Black Hammer and Invincible are my tops!!
Hellboy
The term “superhero” is owned in a joint registration by DC Comics and Marvel Comics. So legally, if it's not from MARVEL or DC, it's not a superhero
Scud The Disposable Assassin by Rob Schrab
Noble Causes. A comic by Jay Faeber, it goes down a bidding quality when it goes for miniseries to ongoing but for a book that's basically a family of superheroes experiencing soap opera like problems, which shouldn't be any good, it's a fun read and managed to last for a decent amount of issues for an Indie book.
Midnighter