Recommendations

[JayCanuck]

Hi everyone,

I'm rather new to comics (though not new to their tv/movie/wikipedia adaptations). In fact, the first comic I ever actually bought was Omega Flight #1. I plan on buying the Civil War TPB and the Marvel Zombie HC (4th printing). Recently I bought several of the old Alpha Flight comics (fav char is Northstar).

I'm looking for other current comics out there in the Marvel Universe that could be worth a good look at. I'm heard lots of good things about New Avengers and even good stuff about the Young Avengers (though I am worried about how child-like and immature the book could be). What other comics would you guys would reccommend?

On a side note, I know Northstar, Ulimate Collosus, Wiccan, and Hulking are gay, but are there any other current marvel heroes that are gay?

[SmurfInABlender]

Checkmate from DC is really good if you're in to political stuff, really cool look on things, and its only on issue 13 so you have the ability to get the rest for a reasojable price on ebay

I really like Namor, it is discontinued, but if you liek Byrnes work on Alpha you'll love Namor which began in 1990, i'm in the midsts of collecting those now

as for graphic Novels, a musr woukld of course be Watchmen...GREAT story and is beign adapted for film in 2008 I believe. The V for Vendetta one is great too

as for current comics, I'm currently buyign Omega, Checkmate, Mighty Avengers, and avengers initiative.. I'm fairly new to comics aswell so i havn't gotten really deep yet either. \

've also heard amazing thigns about Immortal Iron Fist and also about The Runaways, I look to start buyign those soon aswell

[Barnacle13]

I enjoy Exiles. There is a decent connection to Alpha Flight in it and it is usually a good read. Thunderbolts can be good too. Sometimes it's a bit much though. I liked it early on, now it seems some of the characters aren't as interested in reformation. That's about all I have time to read anymore. If you're looking for something new to jump onto, New Avengers started off OK. I haven't followed it since they killed off Alpha Flight there, so don't know how it's going now. I'd imagine if you like the Civil War stuff though it'd be key. There's a new Clan Destine coming out too that might be worth a look. They were an interesting concept years back.

[Ben]

Exiles is always good, and Hulk has been great lately, and should be interesting with World War Hulk.

Ben

[Reber]

New X-Men has been one of the most underrated books in the last year, and I'm not saying that just cause I worked on it. Issue 20 is when Craig Kyle and Chris Yost took over writing the book. New X-Men: Childhood's End the trades are a good place to start. There is a character named "Anole" who is one of the prominent background characters who is gay, but I don't think we've touched on that in the last year.

[Dfense75]

Welcome to the wonderful world of comics my friend :D Although the book will be ending with issue #60 and its currently at #55. Pick up the collected editions of Y The Last Man. Its from DC Comics adult line Vertigo. It has been one of my favorites since its inception and I think you might really like it. The ISBN # for the first collected is 1-56389-980-9. If you like it let me know :D

[Mokole]

Hulk, the Flash, and EXiles may all be good reads, though I'm not sure about the new writer on EXiles. Omega Flight is the only one I've got on order.

[SmurfInABlender]

New X-Men has been one of the most underrated books in the last year, and I'm not saying that just cause I worked on it. Issue 20 is when Craig Kyle and Chris Yost took over writing the book. New X-Men: Childhood's End the trades are a good place to start. There is a character named "Anole" who is one of the prominent background characters who is gay, but I don't think we've touched on that in the last year.

its really hard to read it because of X-23... she irks me

[Uncle Toxie]

Hulk! I loves me some Hulk, I think that the Planet Hulk hardcover may be coming out soon, and with World War Hulk coming soon =P~ , I am just in fanboy heaven. Omega and Hulk FTW!

[SmurfInABlender]

I also can't stand hulk

[RatCat]

All I can do is recommend my favourite books and if you like them you like them... if not that's cool.

As far as I'm concerned there is no better writer in comics today the Ed Brubaker. So if you get a chance check out Captain America, Daredevil Uncanny X-men (almost at the start of a new arc so that should be a good place to start) or even his own title Criminal.

Anything written by Dan Slott is awesome, She Hulk, Avengers The Initiative (try to pick up the GLI Deadpool one shot that's coming out this summer... it's gonna be awesome.)

Some other books that I consistently love are Cable/Deadpool, Moon Knight, X-23 Target X, Hack/Slash, New X-men, Shazam vs. the monster society of evil and Amazing Spider-girl… Plus if you’re into the show you could also check out the new Buffy comic.

If you like Omeing’s work check out the Highlander books, he is one of the writers who has been working on that series and I've enjoyed them.

I read a lot more, but those are the ones I recommend that are consistently good. Good luck, and don’t be afraid to try a little bit of everything… the fun part of getting into comics is finding out what you like.

[RatCat]

As for Young Avengers… trust me when I say it’s far from childish. A very serious title, and a pretty good one. The problem with that book is it’s been a while since it’s come out. I’m not sure of it’s current status.

Oh and gay characters… hmm… Two Gun Kid over in She Hulk comes to mind. And I’m sure there are others but I can’t seem to remember any at the moment.


edit: you can try looking here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gay_comic_book_characters

[SephirothsKiller]

Welcome to the wonderful world of comics my friend :D Although the book will be ending with issue #60 and its currently at #55. Pick up the collected editions of Y The Last Man. Its from DC Comics adult line Vertigo. It has been one of my favorites since its inception and I think you might really like it. The ISBN # for the first collected is 1-56389-980-9. If you like it let me know :D

Seconded, I started reading Y late, (I only have the first three trades so far) but it is amazing. Actually, anything with the "Vertigo" label on it is probably pretty good. Buy Sandman trades, Gaiman's masterpiece should be read by all (I haven't finished them actually, but so far they're amazing too, and I've heard nothing but crazily good things about them.)

Also amazingly good is Scott Pilgrim by Bryan Lee O'Malley. This comic is just fun, and I've never heard a poor review of it. O'Malley is a pretty cool guy too. In 2005 Universal studios optioned the movie and signed Edgar Wright (Shaun of the Dead) to direct.

[Uncle Toxie]

I have to second RatCat's Brubaker recommendation. I just caught up with his run and Daredevil and I loved it. It's several years old, but I just read the War Games arc that crossed through several Bat-titles and it was really good too. Oh and Ultimate stuff, so far I have read The Ultimates and the first trade of Ultimate Spider-Man, top notch stuff to me. Did I mention Hulk? :P

[Dfense75]

1 More to recommend for ya. Its on of my favorites and very very different from normal super hero comics. The Irredeemable Ant-Man published by Marvel Comics. I dont know if there has ever been a character I have loved to hate more than this one. The main character is without a doubt a jerk, bastard, selfish prick and all around horrible human being. There is a LOL moment on just about every page and you will hate yourself for liking him. Its 7 issues in and the trade of the first 6 issues is coming out in a month or so.

[SmurfInABlender]

I've really wanted to try the irradeamable ant man!!!! it looks really good!

Right now i'm looking to the back issues for that and immortal iron fist

[Dfense75]

I only scanned through some of the other recommendations. But if your looking for good books with prominent homosexual characters. Wildstorms The Authority has got to be at the top. The 2 gay characters Midnighter and Apollo are awesome. Midnighter also has a current series of his own and all the past Authority books are available in trade. Midnighter IMO has to be one of the single most bad ass characters in comics. Enjoy I cant believe I forgot to mention it earlier

[Dfense75]

Iron Fist has been a favorite of mine for some time. Im reading the current series and its excellent. If you wanna brush up on his back story pick up Essential Iron Fist for only 16.99 the ISBN is 0-7851-1546-3. The current series is doing a great job of building on his past. Plus im sure you will enjoy some very early John Byrne art. He put Iron Fist on the map

[SmurfInABlender]

I have been reading Namor lately, (Alpha was my first comci series i started reading, then after all the mixing in of Namor i got into Namor after fidnign out Byrne also did Namor) And Byrne has been doing a ginormous arc in the part i'm at about the return of Iron Fist, and I have really started to like the character.. I searched up the back orders on ebay.. i don't think i wanna pay $300 for 15 issues lol... but yeah I actually am sitting here, and have been all day with essential iron fist in my amazon account.. and debatign if i should get it. The problem being at how much not having color might be a hinderment you know?.. is it really a problem? or does it flow without the color?

[Dfense75]

I read quite a few of the Essential Marvel Line. Yeah it would be nice if it was in color. But its cool. You forget its B&W pretty quickly and enjoy it like the classic it is.

[SmurfInABlender]

plus we all know the coloring back then wasn't THAT quality lol.. anyone? anyone?

[blanqueczech]

Oh and gay characters… hmm… Two Gun Kid over in She Hulk comes to mind. And I’m sure there are others but I can’t seem to remember any at the moment.
edit: you can try looking here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gay_comic_book_characters

Small correction:
Rawhide Kid is Marvel's gay cowboy.
Two-Gun Kid is hetero. He dated school marm Nancy Carter back in his old book. And it looks like he has his sights on one of lawyers from She-Hulk's law firm.

Their names are pretty similar so it's an honest mistake.

Other gay characters in the Marvel books include:
Moondragon, Phyla (the new Quasar), Living Lightning, Flatman, and I think that the FIRST time Scott Lobdell wrote Alpha Flight that he established that Major Mapleleaf was gay.

Freedom Ring and a number of the X-statix characters were gay-- but they're not alive at the moment.

[Uncle Toxie]

Speaking of gay heroes, has anything become of the new Batwoman? I remember there was some rumblings and such when it was announced but I haven't heard anything since then.

Back on topic, one of the recommendations earlier was Exiles, I read the first two issues yesterday and they were great, this is an awesome concept for a story, definitely worth looking at.

[Dfense75]

Batwoman has been a part of the weekly DC comic "52" her and her girlfriend Mrs.Montoya (who has taken over the mantle of the Question with the passing of Vic Sage) have been an exciting part of that series so far. The trades are coming out soon and its been a very fun series to date

[SmurfInABlender]

yep, been waitign on the trades to read 52

[RatCat]

Oh and gay characters… hmm… Two Gun Kid over in She Hulk comes to mind. And I’m sure there are others but I can’t seem to remember any at the moment.
edit: you can try looking here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gay_comic_book_characters

Small correction:
Rawhide Kid is Marvel's gay cowboy.
Two-Gun Kid is hetero. He dated school marm Nancy Carter back in his old book. And it looks like he has his sights on one of lawyers from She-Hulk's law firm.

Their names are pretty similar so it's an honest mistake.

Other gay characters in the Marvel books include:
Moondragon, Phyla (the new Quasar), Living Lightning, Flatman, and I think that the FIRST time Scott Lobdell wrote Alpha Flight that he established that Major Mapleleaf was gay.

Freedom Ring and a number of the X-statix characters were gay-- but they're not alive at the moment.


D'oh, thanks.

[JayCanuck]

Hi guys,

Just thought I'd give you guys an update. I got some money left over from my birthday and last week I bought Young Avengers vol. 1 (and Omega Flight #2, but it was on my pull list so whatever). As well, via eBay and Chapters (I love their free shipping deal) I've ordered:
Young Avengers vol. 2
Civil War: Young Avengers/Runaways TPB
Civil War Choosing Sides
Marvel 1602 TPB (Quill Award Edition)
Marvel Zombies HC (1st print)

And On my pull list I have:
Omega Flight (obviously :wink: )
Marvel Zombies: Dead Days
X-men Endangered Species
X-men #200 - 204
Deadpool/GLI Summer Fun
World War Hulk Young Avengers

Any comments about Marvel Zombies or Marvel 1602, or any of the other stuff?

[Dfense75]

Hi guys,

Just thought I'd give you guys an update. I got some money left over from my birthday and last week I bought Young Avengers vol. 1 (and Omega Flight #2, but it was on my pull list so whatever). As well, via eBay and Chapters (I love their free shipping deal) I've ordered:
Young Avengers vol. 2
Civil War: Young Avengers/Runaways TPB
Civil War Choosing Sides
Marvel 1602 TPB (Quill Award Edition)
Marvel Zombies HC (1st print)

And On my pull list I have:
Omega Flight (obviously :wink: )
Marvel Zombies: Dead Days
X-men Endangered Species
X-men #200 - 204
Deadpool/GLI Summer Fun
World War Hulk Young Avengers

Any comments about Marvel Zombies or Marvel 1602, or any of the other stuff?

ZOMBIES LOVE BRAINS!! THIS MAKES US MORE GOODER!! :D

[Le Messor]

Jay,

You should start Young Avengers with #1 if you can. Good read, and has prominent gay characters.

However, I highly recommend Runaways, and you really need to read it before YA. Both series are very good, but they seem to have some almost identical stories, and Runaways came first. And, yes, it has a gay couple.

I loved 1602.

- Le Messor
"Don't believe in ads. Don't believe in government. Watch yourself" - everybody is trying to screw you!"
- Bill Gaines

[Obsidian3d]

I enjoyed the early run of Exiles, and also thought the arc where they went to the 2099 universe was cool. Walking Dead is a fantastic book. I recommend picking up all the trades for that series. Other than that, I'm not reading much other than Green Lantern and The Gunslinger Born. Both of which I would also recommend.

[Beta Ray Daz]

Only other new title i'm reading apart from OF (given up on Ult Power) is Gunslinger Born, and i'm loving it! Don't need to have read the novels to get what's going on and features amazing pencils by Jae Lee

[Le Messor]

The only problem with Gunslinger (I nearly mistyped that 'Bunslinger' :)) is that it's a limited. What're you gonna do when it and Omega are gone? :(

- Le Messor
"Dorkhead? You lash me with your words."
- Xander

[DaVeO]

Well, naturally I have to recommend everything on my pull list.
Catwoman-Kick butt action.*
Manhunter-More kick butt action with a great supporting cast.*
Checkmate-No one does government intrigue like Greg Rucka.*
Birds of Prey-Best showcase for cool heroines, and funny too.
Countdown-Wanna get to know the DCU? All you need is this.*
Omega Flight-.....what? You need me to say why?
Excalibur-A Marvel comic where heroes actually fight villains. :wink:
Exiles-Psylocke has joined, so I must get it. 8)
Thunderbolts-The team I love to hate.
Marvel Zombies vs Army of Darkness:The best of the MZ bunch.

The comics with this * designates gay characters in the cast. Ethier in a starring or supporting role.

Recent trades I read.
Promethea vol 1: Alan Moore is a genius. Most original comic I've read.
Saga of the Swamp Thing Vol 1: Early Moore goodness.
Fables:Homelands vol 6: If you aren't reading this series, for shame.
Red Sonja Vol 1(Dynamite): A fun sword and sorcery tale.
Conan Vol 1 (Dark Horse): Ditto.
Hellboy Strange Places: Two great supernatural stories. Mignola brings to life the dark places in your cellar. Then Hellboy punches it.

[Beta Ray Daz]

The only problem with Gunslinger (I nearly mistyped that 'Bunslinger' :)) is that it's a limited. What're you gonna do when it and Omega are gone? :(

- Le Messor
"Dorkhead? You lash me with your words."
- Xander

keep buying back issues!! haha

[Le Messor]

What're you gonna do when it and Omega are gone?
keep buying back issues!! haha

:) Way ahead of you!

- Le Messor
"Doubtless, you want to be my friend. Come back on Tuesday."
- Dorothy Parker