The Best Comic You've Ever Read.

[sageoftruth]

Either Watchmen, or Empowered. Both have very different kinds of appeal, but both also take pleasure in deconstructing super hero comics. Everyone's already explained why Watchmen is great, so I like Empowered because of its humor, and its very charming characters, like Maidman, who's essentially Batman if he wore a french maid outfit instead of a bat costume.
I just loved how it took all these things we take for granted in comics and used funny tricks to show how ridiculous they all are.

 

[Little Woodsman]

Sandman for reasons already mentioned by many.

While we're at it though, I'm going to throw in a word for Chris Claremont's run of Uncanny X-Men. He pushed out a lot of boundaries in that comic, which helped pave the way for later works, and it was one of the great milestones in comics history when the team/events caused Magneto to change the way he thought. It's as jaw-dropping as many other things mentioned in this thread... but in a subtler way.

 

[Shoggoth2588]

I really liked Blackest Night. Specifically though, my favorite part had to be near the beginning when Black Hand went completely nuts. He exhumes Bruce Wayne's corpse, using the skull for an 'Alas Poor Yorick' moment, then goes home to murder is family and kill himself. It wasn't at all what I was expecting, it was really brutal and I absolutely loved it for some horrible reason.

Speaking of horrible things that I liked, Johnny the Homicidal Maniac. Specifically, I loved the afterlife arc. Nny in Heaven, Nny in Hell...good stuff.

 

[Rellik San]

I have a couple here so hold on to your sexual organ of choice. Also included in this are OEL Manga, what's an OEL Manga you ask? Well it's a Manga style series but written and drawn by Western creators. So if the Manga style is a turn off ignore anything I mark with Adam Warren, if you're not fussed about it, you're in for a treat.

Adam Warren: Empowered - Sexy superhero adventures, featuring tight spandex clad voluptuous heroines in all manner of bondage. What separates this from a spank fest? The writing is top notch, if I were to describe Warrens writing it would be like if Joss Whedon was concentrated over a million times, it's literally that good, it's a shame a lot of people probably dismiss his work because of his style.

Warren Ellis: Next WAVE Agents of H.A.T.E. - A brutal take down of the Marvel universe from the inside with Z list Marvel heroes being led by a former Captain Marvel. It's an interesting look at the zanier aspects as well as some of the darker of super hero life in the Marvel universe. It's not Deadpool levels of Purple Monkey Dishwasher nonsense, this is more like a laser focused take down of Marvels own tropes, systematically dismantling them one by one.

Peter Milligan: Hellblazer/Neil Gaiman: Sandman - Before we begin I know the original creator of Hellblazer is Alan Moore, but I'm using lead writers for credits here. Now why have I lumped these 2 together? Well before the New 52 there was a deeper darker, more dream like aspect to the DC Universe, more artistic and more experimental and usually... VERY BRITISH (important note here). Both Hellblazer and Sandman deal a lot in the same realms and so I put these two together. Both are equally good but I do prefer Sandman personally, it's a touch more imaginative in where it can go (by plot necessity).

Dan Abnett: Sinister Dexter - Hello ladies and sirs have you heard the good word of our lord and saviour Thargg and how his monthly dose of THRILL POWER! can save you from Superhero Comic overload? Sinister Dexter is the twisted tale of 2 bounty hunters Sinister and Dexter in the City of Downlode, I won't give you any more than that other than to say it's a regular feature of 2000AD and if that book isn't in your subscriptions, given it's pedigree (Alan Moore, Neil Gaiman, Warren Ellis, Dan Abnett, Simon Bisley, Mark Millar, Grant Morrison, Pat Mills, Mike McMahon and Dave Gibbons, arguably THE DRIVING FORCES OF MODERN COMICS AS WE KNOW THEM all got thier start and arguably did some of their best work there) you'd better add it sunshine, because I promise you after Guardians of the Galaxy you'll be seeing a lot more of Dan Abnetts works come to the fore.

And those are probably the best comics I've read in a long long time with a bit of evangelising for 2000AD (Seriously, why are you not subbed to both it and the Megazine brah? Don't you like new and interesting ideas and comics, that regularly feature all star writers and artists whilst giving up and comers a consistent shot? Brah... BRAH!)

 

[bartholen_v1legacy]

More support for Garth Ennis, as Preacher is still the best. I haven't read The Boys though, and now I have to check it out. Saying something is better than Preacher is a tall order indeed.

 

[SweetShark]

[HEADING=3]Maus[/HEADING]​

I have many comics I like, but if I had to choose, THIS is the only one!!!

 

[Starbird]

More support for Garth Ennis, as Preacher is still the best. I haven't read The Boys though, and now I have to check it out. Saying something is better than Preacher is a tall order indeed.

Preacher had an amazing story, but I found it's lead character(s) far too perfect, aside from Cassidy who I freaking loved. The Boys is a lot more believable (despite having an even more nutso plot) and...you know, I hate romance stories at the best of times and comic book romances worst of all and yet the Boys managed to not only make me give a shit about it, but actually quite enjoy it being a big part of the story later. And that's a miracle for a bitter 30 something like myself.

Yeah...back to reading The Boys. Man I wish they made a machine that could erase selective parts of your memory so that you could enjoy a series for the first time again.

 

[Lil devils x_v1legacy]

I do not have just ONE favorite comic, I have 3. The Far side, by Gary Larson, Calvin and Hobbes by Bill Waterson, and Bloom County/ Outland by Berkeley Breathed. Luckily, my sister was thoughtful enough to give me their books years ago and I have loved and enjoyed their works ever since.

 

[Lil devils x_v1legacy]

Gary Larson's The Far Side. The man's a comic genius.

I am glad to see another Larson fan here! Life is not complete without having enjoyed "The Far Side". It is like the Twilight Zone of comics. My sister had given me a note block that had a different Far side cartoon on it every day as well as the books.

 

[SckizoBoy]

It's a webcomic, but Sunstone. It's basically 50 shades of gray except the characters are more real, more likable, it explores BDSM better...ok so it's practically nothing like 50 shades of gray. It basically does it's own thing and it does them very well. Plus lesbians, that's always nice (Hetero male alert)

Oh, the heresy!! =P (Just as well you refute it half a sentence later... a few of us would've vented much vitriol!)

Apparently, once the Ally/Lisa arc is done, Alan's gonna get his backstory, so... more Marion... more of Alan's costume porn which was awesome (dunno if you've read any of the independent panels).

Anyway, on the note of Stjepan Sejic... OT: anything by Stjepan Sejic! At the moment, Death Vigil, seeing a Grim Reaper (an ageless woman who looks in her early/mid-twenties) who goes by the name of 'Bernie' head-banging while in full reaper-attire is adorable!

 

[deckpunk]

I'm gonna say Chew

Seconded,I love Chew. As you said it may not be high literature, but it is clever, funny, highly imaginative and I think it's a beautiful counterpoint to the grim and gritty superhero wankery from marvel and dc. The characters are actually likable so when one of them dies there is actually an emotional weight to it.

Batman is a goth kid furry freak with too much free time and disposable income, meanwhile Wolverine is the comic book equivalent of herpes (always comes back). And yet people think they are badasses?! I call bullshit. Both dc and marvel universes die screaming before the might of the most badass cybernetic rooster ever. POYO!

 

[happyninja42]

Rising Stars and Midnight Nation, both by J. Michael Stracysnki. Excellent stories, self contained tales, just really really good. If you haven't ever checked them out, you should.

I'll try and mention ones not said above here.

I'm currently re-reading Brian Wood's "DMZ" and I had forgotten just how fantastic that series was. A lot of it was lost on me when I first read it, but a few years older, it's just blowing me away. That's my current favourite. It's not a high fantasy, sci-fi or anything like that. It's set in the modern world, with a few changes of course (i.e. the USA is in another civil war and the island of Manhattan has become a demilitarized zone, stranding the inhabitants and leaving them to fend for themselves)

I'm glad to see these three masterpieces get some well-deserved love. You warm this old nerd's heart, boys.

xD. It really amuses me about JMS, in how well he tells stories of faith and belief, while being an atheist. Maybe it speaks to an odd part in myself, as an atheist as well, but one who really enjoys playing game characters of faith, (clerics and paladins being some of my favorite archetypes to play). It's an odd duality, maybe because I like those concepts in games, because the gods they worship actually do provide some benefit for worship, compared to real life. If you follow the god of *insert random diety* in a game, you usually get a kickass arsenal of powers to use, because of your devotion. None of this "works in mysterious ways" crap.

Anyway, rambling. Yeah, love JMS's stuff, love reading them multiple times.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

Gary Larson's The Far Side. The man's a comic genius.

I am glad to see another Larson fan here! Life is not complete without having enjoyed "The Far Side". It is like the Twilight Zone of comics. My sister had given me a note block that had a different Far side cartoon on it every day as well as the books.

I love The Far Side. I work at a (used books) bookstore and Far Side comics are constantly coming and going, which is a blessing in a boring day.

 

[catalyst8]

The Ballad of Halo Jones by Alan Moore, originally published episodically in 2000AD.
Well written characters which undergo actual character development within an excellent narrative, superbly illustrated by Ian Gibson.

Spoiler

 

[Mikeybb]

"I kill giants."

It's about an imaginative little girl, dealing with loss and, of course, killing giants.

Read it.

Read it now.

 

[zelda2fanboy]

I'm not particularly well read in comics (working on that), but Alan Moore's Swamp Thing is far and away the best series I've ever read. I definitely prefer it over Watchmen and Killing Joke. It reads like poetry sometimes and is quite beautiful. I also enjoyed Scott Snyder's Swamp Thing run (not nearly as good) and I really dug Frank Miller's Hard Boiled and Dark Knight Returns. The single issue Scott Snyder Batman in Death of the Family that ties up all the stories is a particularly haunting issue I find myself still thinking about frequently.

 

[Programmed_For_Damage]

Either Watchmen or Daytripper. Although I probably prefer Daytripper as it is more uplifting.

I really enjoyed The Punisher: Max series. It's as brutal as it should be.

 

[diligentscribbler]

I have many comics I like, but if I had to choose, THIS is the only one!!!

Have you Read Tardi's It was the war of the trenches?

Perhaps Art Spiegleman can convince you to.

??The war to end all wars? has become a magisterial comic book to end all comic books. I seldom give blurbs, but this book is an essential classic. Among all of Jacques Tardi's towering achievements as a comics artist, nothing looms larger than this devastating crater of a work. It?s a compulsively readable wail of Existential despair, a kaleidoscope of war?s dehumanizing brutality and of Everyman?s suffering, as well as a deadpan masterpiece of the darkest black humor. The richly composed and obsessively researched drawings ? perfectly poised between cartoon and illustration ? march to the relentless beats of Tardi?s three horizontal panels per page to dig a hole deep inside your brain. This is one Hell of a book.? ?Art Spiegelman

 

[diligentscribbler]

Building Stories By Chris Ware, winner of 4 Eisner awards in 2013.

It's meditative, quite complex and revelatory. It's like an Ozu film in comic form, it's simply exquisite reading by america's most interesting cartoonist.

 

[The Madman]

Sandman and Calvin & Hobbs have been mentioned, so I'll go with my other favourite mischievous miscreant duo:

Sam & Max​

Seriously underrated and tragically overlooked these days. For a while they weren't just a video game, but a comic and TV series as well, all amazing!