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Post by brutalis on Jun 20, 2021 17:29:59 GMT -5
We all have our favorite characters or stories we enjoy. But what series are ones you can always go to for reading time and again? Every series has its highs and lows but there are those which have a special connection for us as readers. Whether for the writers or artists? Whether for the hero(s) or villains? Whether for the time you discovered it? Whether it spoke to you personally? Discuss what makes dome comics your continous go to, providing an endless well of reading pleasure.
Everyone here in the forum by now should know of my adoration and love for the old Western and War comic books. I came upon them as they were slowly dwindling away but my connection goes earlier in my childhood before reading comic books. Both of my grandfathers were fans of War and Western movies/television shows. So as a child I was seeing both on the small screen at home and on the big screen at theaters.
Watching these glorious iconic themes it was only natural I would gravitate towards them in comic book form. While not having lots of these comics in my early days of youth, I read those precious few over and over. Poring through them brought endless joy. And over the years I have managed to acquire several boxes covering the great and not so great comics of these genres.
I can guarantee when comic book shopping I will almost certainly grab up any Western or War comic I come across, whether old or new. Kid Colt and Two Gun Kid I can read anytime, even when I know many of the stories by heart. Jonah Hex quickly became a favorite being a more contemporary and adult cowboy adventure. Marvel reprints of the gorgeously exquisite 1940-1950's westerns were golden nuggets of greatness in art if not always story.
As a teen in high school I followed DC War comics The Unknown Soldier, Weird War with the Creature Commandos, Sgt. Rock and the Haunted Tank in GI Combat. I was hooked on GI Joe from the very start by Hama and Trimpe collecting until the Joe's end at Marvel and even followed them once more a decade later when they came back at Image/ IDW collecting through today.
Periodically I can pull out single issues or storylines to read. I will at times drag out an entire series (or what I have of a series) for reading from start to finish. I find comfort in familiar faces, characters and remembered stories. Any moth or year i dive into these beloved series. I reconnect with memories and remembrances from those shared special times with my grandfathers over the years. I can and do plan on or look forward to choosing up which series to re-read.
There are many other series I will get to discussing later, but this is just a start and a chance for the rest of you jumping aboard and sharing your choices as well.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 20, 2021 17:52:50 GMT -5
The Punisher - Welcome Back Frank. It's because of stories like this that I own EVERY Punisher comic published since.
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Post by Mister Spaceman on Jun 20, 2021 17:58:08 GMT -5
I enjoy re-reading Weisinger-era Superman family stories every once in a while, the zanier the better. And a few months back I re-read the Claremont/Byrne X-Men run for the first time since they were first published. Instantly took me back to late Seventies Bend, Oregon (a wonderful few years of my childhood experienced outside of rural Indiana). But I more often pull those books out to enjoy the art rather than to read the stories. I do find Mad (when it was a comic book) exceedingly re-readable. And Jaime Hernandez's God and Science would be my desert island graphic novel.
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Post by Hoosier X on Jun 20, 2021 18:13:57 GMT -5
I enjoy re-reading Weisinger-era Superman family stories every once in a while, the zanier the better. And a few months back I re-read the Claremont/Byrne X-Men run for the first time since they were first published. Instantly took me back to late Seventies Bend, Oregon (a wonderful few years of my childhood experienced outside of rural Indiana). But I more often pull those books out to enjoy the art rather than to read the stories. I do find Mad (when it was a comic book) exceedingly re-readable. And Jaime Hernandez's God and Science would be my desert island graphic novel. I have reprints of most of the comic book issues of MAD and yeah, they are hilarious. I read Shemlock Shomes and Klatchandhammer Kids over and over again.
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Post by kirby101 on Jun 20, 2021 18:28:14 GMT -5
I recently re read Conan 1-25 (Omnibus) and thoroughly enjoyed it.
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Post by Ricky Jackson on Jun 20, 2021 18:50:08 GMT -5
Used to re-read reprints of EC and Dick Tracy a lot when I was younger. Lee and Ditko's Spidey as well. Haven't done a re-read in a long time, as for the last year I've been working my way through all the old stuff I didn't get to during my last fandom peak 20 years ago and some newish stuff I missed during my comics sabbatical (roughly 2009-2019)
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Post by codystarbuck on Jun 20, 2021 19:16:14 GMT -5
Jon Sable Scout American Flagg (at least, Chaykin's first year) New Teen Titans LSH: Great Darkness Saga JSA: The Golden Age Grendel Jonny Quest (Comico) Defenders-Gerber and "Who Remembers Scorpio?" SHIELD-Strange Tales issues and Sterank Nick Fury title Miller Daredevil Marvelman Top Ten Manhunter-Goodwin & Simonson Starman-Robinson Superman: Kryptonite No More (and the World of Krypton back-ups) Iron Man-Demon in a Bottle and just before Project Pegasus JLI Invaders Prince Valiant Tales of Suspense Captain America Starlin Captain Marvel Panther's Rage Killraven Deathlok Master of Kung Fu Marvel Star Wars (up through Empire) Cities of the Fantastic Hungarian Rhapsody-Vittorio Giardino Orient Gateway-same Crying Freeman
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Post by majestic on Jun 20, 2021 20:01:16 GMT -5
1. The team up titles. Brave & The Bold. DC Comics Presents. World's Finest. Marvel Team-Up. Marvel Two-In-One.
2. Old anthology titles like Adventure Comics especially the DC 100 page Super Spectacular format or DC's Dollar Comics.
3. Any Earth 2 stories.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 20, 2021 20:28:53 GMT -5
Great topic, and taking a lot of thinking to get my head around.
The Fantastic Four and Legion of Super-Heroes I can pretty much re-read their entire 60's and 70's runs at any time. Definitely some better story arcs and periods of art, but overall I enjoy reading it all. Ironically, they both also had amazing early to mid 80's runs which I love as well, but I re-read those a little less maybe because I know how much both teams change towards the end. I think my affinity for both is how imaginative the places their adventures would take them and the team dynamics, plus being some of the earliest material I read as a kid.
Spider-Man is still my all-time favorite character and kind of the same as the above with the 60's/70's runs, but Ditko era I seem to re-read the most. Spidey was the beginning of it all for me, and maybe relating a bit to Peter as a kid kept him my favorite.
A lot of old campy DC material, particularly classic Superman and Batman, I always seem to be in the mood for because it's just fun. Wayne Boring, Curt Swan, Al Plastino, Dick Sprang, etc., I love their classic renditions. I like some of the "prototype" FF titles as well as I call them, like Sea Devils and Challengers of the Unknown.
But being a child of the Bronze Age, I also enjoy regular re-reads of Cerebus (High Society at least once a year), Mike Baron's Nexus and Badger, and Dreadstar among others. Roy Thomas' All-Star Squadron I find myself coming back to all the time. This was as era when I think some great writing flourished.
So many more, but yeah, these I tend to pick back up the most.
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Post by DubipR on Jun 20, 2021 21:00:41 GMT -5
Love & Rockets (all volumes and spin-offs) Ostrander's Spectre Grummett/Kesel's run on Superboy The Invisibles Lee/Kirby FF Byrne FF Simonson FF Simonson Thor Joe Kelly Deadpool Black Kiss Nocenti/Romita Daredevil
There's really so many trades and runs I pull out annually and just enjoy.
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Post by Graphic Autist on Jun 20, 2021 22:53:38 GMT -5
I don’t re-read comics all that often, but some that I have definitely read again on multiple occasions are:
Byrne’s FF Byrne’s Man of Steel Claremont/Byrne X-Men Simonson Thor Miller Daredevil Dark Knight Returns Peter David Incredible Hulk The first 40 or so issues of JLI Amazing Spider-Man up to around the Carnage era
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Post by Deleted on Jun 20, 2021 23:08:05 GMT -5
Some of the things I enjoy returning to for rereads include:
-Jeff Smith's Bone. It's delightful every time I reread it.
-Will Eisner's Spirit Archives and OGN's like A Contract with God
-Moebius and Jodo's The Incal
-Druillett's Lone Sloane
-Brubaker's Criminal
-Alex Raymond's Flash Gordon
-I haven't done it regularly, but I recently reread through all of the early Usagi Yojimbo material and have pushed on into material I am reading for the first time. I thoroughly enjoyed revisiting the early material and can easily see myself revisiting it all again at some point in the not too distant future.
-the Busiek/Nord Conan run
-Mignola's Hellboy
-the Ditko/Lee Dr. Strange run
-Gaiman's Book of Magic and Sandman
-Miller's Daredevil
-Scott McCloud's Understnading Comics and Making Comics
and then there is a lot of stuff that I used to reread often, but just doesn't do it for me anymore and stuff I want to revisit but just haven't gotten back to yet.
-M
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Post by EdoBosnar on Jun 21, 2021 8:43:44 GMT -5
I enjoy re-reading Weisinger-era Superman family stories every once in a while, the zanier the better. And a few months back I re-read the Claremont/Byrne X-Men run for the first time since they were first published. Instantly took me back to late Seventies Bend, Oregon (a wonderful few years of my childhood experienced outside of rural Indiana). But I more often pull those books out to enjoy the art rather than to read the stories. I do find Mad (when it was a comic book) exceedingly re-readable. And Jaime Hernandez's God and Science would be my desert island graphic novel. Sorry to go off-topic, but this caught my eye: cool that you lived in Bend for a few years. That's such a nice part of the state, where the eastern Cascade foothills transition into desert country. I grew up on the other side of the range, right in the middle of the Willamette Valley (had a lovely view of the Cascades and Mt. Hood in the distance on clear days).
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Post by MDG on Jun 21, 2021 9:35:30 GMT -5
I enjoy re-reading Weisinger-era Superman family stories every once in a while, the zanier the better. ... I do find Mad (when it was a comic book) exceedingly re-readable. And Jaime Hernandez's God and Science would be my desert island graphic novel. I'll pull out various silver age DC collections (and even floppies) for a fun re-read. Slightly later period, I really enjoy Robbins-written Batman stories (yes, more than O'Neil).
I haven't re-read MAD comics in a while, probably because I re-read them constantly in the Ballentine paperbacks from 5th grade through college and after. More likely to pull out Kurtzman's Jungle Book or Goodman Beaver.
I think I've only read God and Science a couple times--not jumping on a lot to keep it "special." Looking for a time and method to systematically re-read L&R.
I often re-read collections/novels by Deitch, Spain, and Clowes.
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Post by tartanphantom on Jun 21, 2021 9:44:48 GMT -5
I'm in the middle of re-reading the first Jonah Hex series right now. Started with the 1971 All-Star Western debut and read through the Weird Western Tales run, then to his first solo series... I just finished issue #32 last night.
Others that I enjoy re-reading include: Sandman Mystery Theatre, The 1970's Spectre run in Adventure Comics, The '90's Ostrander/Mandrake Spectre series, The Golden Age, Kingdom Come, Xenozoic Tales, and the 1980's First Comics' run of E-Man.
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