In Which Superheros Are For Real This Time

Superhero Comics, The Best Ever

by Alex Carnevale

We began our drawn-out countdown of the best superhero comics of all time here. Not to spoil the best 5, but there's a notable omission from the list, it starts with "Watch" and ends with "Men." If it was called Watchwomen maybe I could get into it. Whoa, settle.

Everybody loves Watchmen, although to be fair it doesn't exactly get you wanting to read other books about superheroes, it more makes you want to cry your balls off. The movie, directed by 300's Zack Snyder, is about as promising as Frank Miller doing The Spirit (read: not promising at all). League of Extraordinary Gentlemen is Moore's more traditional attempt and it's also fabulous, as was his From Hell that turned into a Johnny Depp movie. From Hell is probably the greatest book of all time, but it's not really a superhero book. Moore's Lost Girls, the erotic trilogy about Dorothy, Alice, and Wendy, is incredible and the only thing I will take with me in a fire, or, god forbid, Galactus.

My point is that most everyone knows about Watchmen. Here's five books that are just as good.

5. Y: The Last Man

by Brian K. Vaughn

Current Lost scribe Brian K. Vaughn was at his best in this landmark series about the last man on earth. I can totally sympathize.

On July 17, 2002, something simultaneously kills every mammal possessing a Y chromosome - including embryos, fertilized eggs, and even sperm. The only exceptions are Yorick Brown, a young amateur escape artist, and his Capuchin monkey Ampersand.

The world would be so much better without Ampersands, they nearly killed the poetry of Will Hubbard. Y would be great as a series, it's too bad they already did Harsh Realm. This is also a great concept for an Albert Brooks movie. Failing that, there's always the downside of Ryan Gosling's career.

Buy Y: The Last Man here.

4. Sandman

by Neil Gaiman

The mother of all comic books, Neil Gaiman's take on Sandman is the most ambitious, literate, engaging and complex effort in the genre. The original Sandman concept belonged to Jack Kirby. It's pointless to try to summarize Sandman. How many other comic books have a book of academic essays dedicated to them?

Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio's screenplay for Sandman.

Gaiman is updating the number 10 book on our list.

Even women enjoy Sandman:

Written by Neil Gaiman and illustrated by various people, including the regally named Malcolm Jones III, Sandman was one of the smart-people comics, bought by twenty-one-year-old former art students with good haircuts and cool shoes and by thirty-eight-year-old guys in bands that were actually good. It was common to see Sandman in a stack with back issues of Hate and Love & Rockets. Every Sandman had a zillion references, from Greek mythology to Shakespeare. When you got the obscure ones, it made you feel smart, like you'd just finished the Friday crossword puzzle.

Some of the storylines took place in parts of New York I walked through every day. In one of my favorite mini-stories, Death has a talk with a skateboarder in Washington Square Park, where we bought pot before we realized 1) it was frequently oregano, and 2) we were girls, and girls never had to buy their own drugs.

For most people who have experienced it in its entirety, Sandman ranks as one of the top achievements in any genre. While it's a titanic achievement and a monstrous challenge to tackle as a whole, I'd rather sit down and read either of the titles below. Sorry Neil, it was so real though.

Buy Absolute Sandman here. The whole thing is $162. Neil Gaiman's blog on Amazon is here.

3. X-Men: Age of Apocalypse

Written by many writers, but featuring major contributions from Fabian Nicieza, Brian K. Vaughn and Warren Ellis, among others, the Age of Apocalypse is the greatest long form storyline ever done with traditional characters. Spanning a massive number of issues and a cast of about 300, the series began with a relatively simple premise: Charles Xavier is dead.

Recasting the hero of this world as Magneto worked for so many reasons, and most of all was that he finally had a worthy adversary in the timeless villain Apocalypse. I also dug this incarnation of the Four Horsemen, Holocaust, Abyss, Sinister, and Rasputin. Sinister especially is one of the great villains.

The Age of Apocalypse ran right up against some of the most taboo issues of the time - mass death, government control, independence, democracy - and never blinked. While it can be challenging to keep track of all the characters and their abilities, there are so many interwoven stories that it's easy to pick favorites and enjoy what stands out to you. It's like if Lord of the Rings were a Choose Your Own Adventure. It is really sad to see what the X-Men series on the big screen has become when they have this Godzilla of a storyline waiting for them to use. Also, I still am a little freaked out that Magneto married Rogue and named the baby Charles, that's not cool.

Buy the first volume of the Age of Apocalypse here.

2. The Ultimates 1 & 2

by Mark Millar & Bryan Hitch

Mark Millar is on the verge of becoming an even bigger superstar than he already is. His new book, about a regular kid who wants to be a superhero, is called Kick Ass. His new take on the Fantastic Four, including the spectacular idea of giving Reed Richards an ex-girlfriend, is terrific. Basically he is hot right now, and for good reason. This reason.

The Ultimates came out of an attempt to do a big budget Avengers movie. Hopefully when they do bring Iron Man, Hulk, Captain America, Giant Man, Wasp, Nick Fury, Thor, and the Vision together, it will be an adaptation of this mindblowing great superhero comic. For my money, Ultimates 2 is the better book, but I'm not the biggest Bruce Banner fan so perhaps that's understandable. Ultimate Hulk is a smidge too powerful for my taste, but the characterization totally works.

"Twenty One" - Corey Smith (mp3)

"Drinkin Again" - Corey Smith (mp3)

Corey Smith website

There's so much about these books that other superhero comics can't match: the mindblowingly awesome panel constructions by Bryan Hitch, the badass military aspect combined with the NYC feel of the team headquarters, the Triskelion, the Dashiell Hammett-esque murder mystery plot thrown in for kicks, plus a superb internecine battle versus Thor as faux Al Gore. The Ultimates has it all, and if you prefer the X-Men, Millar did Ultimate X-Men in part as well, and it's nearly as good.

What makes this book so terrific is that in the context of a superb story tying different superheroes together, Millar never loses track of the character moments that make you feel about the people in question.

Buy The Ultimates here and The Ultimates 2 here.

1. Preacher

by Garth Ennis

I was never very into westerns, but one film showed me what a Western could be by having fun with the rules. That film, The Good, The Bad, And the Ugly, thrived on the superficiality and coolness of the genre. I never really got the longer, more ponderously good feeling a story set in the West can give you until I read the finest superhero comic of all time, Preacher. I was never really into the Bible, either, until Preacher. Now I think the Bible is the No. 2 book about the Bible.

herr starr

What to say about Preacher? Garth Ennis may never be able to approach something this genius again. There are very few art works in any medium to engage in storytelling this deep. Lord of the Rings can't touch Preacher, neither can The Prisoner, or Star Trek: TNG, or Babylon 5, or any of these tales of the page. Preacher is more satisfying than them all.

jesse custer

Jesse's power is The Word. That is, when he speaks, and people can hear, they do exactly what he says.

Tulip, Cassidy, Jesse, the Allfather, the Saint of Killers, and Herr Starr, are all deeply ingrained in my memory. Herr Starr in particular is one of the most awesome villains ever and his life story, as told at the beginning of Volume 5, is the best thing Ennis has ever done.

Buy the first volume of Preacher here.

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