Everyone with a hobby or interest has that list, a list of the things that drew them into the subject. Be it books, movies, songs, sporting matches, TV episodes… every one of us can pinpoint the influences that engaged us to the point of becoming a fan.
Some lists are long, others may contain just a single item. Mine? Well one night recently I was unable to sleep and lay in bed coming up with my top 5 comic books. I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t keep it down to 5.
And the reason I couldn’t keep it to five was simple; different comics have shown me different things, taught me more about the medium and given me a whole different view than I had prior to reading them.
What’s to follow are, for me, the books that have shaped my comic book reading.
Blackest Night
The story focuses on Nekron as he brings back dead heroes in his quest to destroy all life and the emotional spectrum, which powers the Lanterns rings.
This story showed me that comics can tell epic stories. And this is a great example of what an epic event can be like, thanks to the great writing of Geoff Johns. It also, through the tie-in’s that I also read, introduced me to characters I’d never heard of before. Characters like Booster Gold and Blue Beetle, who were great fun to read.
But the main thing I took out of this; how freakin’ cool is Hal Jordan?!
See Also: More great Geoff Johns Green Lantern stories – Rebirth & Sinestro Corps War.
Y: The Last Man
This was one of the first non-superhero books I was introduced to, and it’s one of the very best comic book series out there. If you think comics = superheroes (or you just can’t move away from your usual Marvel/DC books) then try Y: The Last Man, it’ll open your eyes to just how good the comics medium can be, just like it did for me.
It’s the story of how, very suddenly, every creature on this planet with a Y chromosome just drops down dead. All except two; an escapologist called Yorrick and his pet monkey, Ampersand. What follows is full of twists, turns and fantastic character development that draws you in and doesn’t let you go.
See Also: More character driven non-hero books – Fables & Chew.
Will you still love me if I wet the bed?
This is a short little book by Liz Prince, a collection of sketchbook style strips that are autobiographical in nature. It shows her relationship and the cute and quirky moments that we can all relate to.
It’s a book that showed me that comics don’t have to be perfectly drawn, that they don’t have to be long drawn out sagas. This little collection still ranks among my favourite books.
See Also: A similar book called “Scenes from an impending wedding”.
Batman: Year One
Growing up I’d always considered Batman to be one of my favourite characters, even though I’d never read any of the comics. The Batman I knew came from a mix of the old 60’s TV show, cartoons and the original film series.
Those things were great, but when I started getting into comics I made sure to check out Batman. I picked up a copy of Year One and found the real Batman. This origins story of Batman’s first year is widely regarded as one of the best Batman stories, and I think it’s certainly the best version of his origins.
See Also: Other Batman classics, The Dark Knight Returns & The Killing Joke
Flashpoint
This is another event story, and another written by Geoff Johns. It focuses on The Flash as he finds himself in a world different to the one he’s used to; a world where his powers are gone, Wonder Woman & Aquaman are at war (and have sunk most of Europe) and Batman is not Bruce Wayne.
Flashpoint is a great alternate Earth with a whole bunch of familiar characters acting in unfamiliar ways. The way the story works its way to it’s climax kept me hooked, especially the side story of Batman which has an awesomely cool element to it.
This alternate Earth story is a common thing in comics, and the medium is set up to do it perfectly.
See Also: Even more great work from Geoff Johns – Flash: Rebirth & Infinite Crisis. Also great alternative earth stories – Superman: Red Son, Kingdom Come & Marvel Zombies.
Ultimate Spider-Man
Spidey, like Bats, is one of those characters I’ve always loved even without reading the comics. But when I started reading comics in 2011 Spider-Man was almost 50 years old, so where do you start? How about with the Ultimate universe version?
Ultimate Spider-Man launched in 2000 as part of the Ultimate universe, a series of modernised reimaginings of classic characters. Starting at the beginning of USM was an easy jumping on point for me and I soon found myself having read the entire run.
Brian Michael Bendis created a great version of the character and the stories kept me hooked. It showed me that it’s perfectly possible to have two versions of the same character being published at the same time, without detracting from each other.
I could write a whole essay on my love of Spider-Man, but for now let me just say that this run is a great story for anyone who wants a modern Spidey origin tale.
See Also: For more Spidey – any of Dan Slott’s run on Amazing Spider-Man / Superior Spider-Man. For more Ultimate universe Marvel – The Ultimates.
Scott Pilgrim
Remember how I said I believed Blackest Night to be my first foray into comics? Well, in retrospect, it was Scott Pilgrim. For some reason when I was reading it I didn’t even think of it being a comic. Maybe it’s down to the size of the books (ie actual books and not comic issues) or the length, but I’d always seen comics and “graphic novels” as separate things. They’re really not.
I remember hearing about the Scott Pilgrim film which was about to come out and playing the game on PS3 prior to reading the books. All three versions are a little different… and all three are great. But it’s the books that I loved most.
Brian Lee O’Malley’s slacker is fun, irreverent, hilarious, hugely quotable and just plain cool. Once you get to the end of volume one you’ll just want to instantly pick up the next volume and keep reading. I got through all six volumes in about two days on a holiday in Spain.
See Also: For subtle (and not so subtle) Pilgrim references and more love problems – The Li’l Depressed Boy.
So that’s my list, the seven books that drew me in and got me hooked on comics. Which books would make your list? Have any opinions on the books I’ve mentioned? Leave your thoughts below.