I've been a comic fan since I was 5, but have not read much the last 5 years or so.

I've bought a few things, but pretty much haven't read anything lately.

My favorite writers include Alan Moore, Frank Miller, Neil Gaiman, and Steve Purcell. Favorite books/characters over the years include Swamp Thing, Micronauts, Zot, Flaming Carrot, Stigs Inferno, Man-Thing, The Spirit, Astro City,

I'm mainly a DC fan, and love books that reference the old continuity. Also love the rare and "monster-type" characters of DC and Marvel from the old days.

I want to take advantage of google's deal with buy.com and stock up on some trades. Buy.com already looks to have some great prices, the free shipping over $30, and then $10 off every $30 order makes this a great time to buy a lot.

I know I've probably missed a lot in the last 5 years or so, but can you throw me some recommendations?

I'm willing to spend a few hundred to catch up a bit. I might get some of the "absolute" type hardcovers of stuff I have like Sandman, but want to try some "new" stuff too.

If you like DC and you like old continuty then you should love what they're doing now. It's pretty much all they're doing. Infinite Crisis, Justice League of America, Identity Crisis, One Year Later. Marvel did a relaunch of their monster books, but most of them were reprints so might not be worth your money if you have the originals.

Steve Percell hasnt done anything really. He has a few "new" sam and max strips at http://www.telltalegames.com and he's done a few covers but thats it.

Neil Gaiman is now working on marvels Eternals but thats not in trade form yet and its the type of book where it's best to be waiting for the trade. He did 1602 a few years back and it was okay, but nothing special.

Frank Miller hasn't written anything good in quite a few years. Batman and Robin was aboslutly horrible, as so was dark knight strikes again, hes all style, no substance. Too bad though. Gaiman and Moore still seem to be doing alright.

If you're a fan of Alan Moore check out his ABC line of comics. League of Extraordinary Gentlemen Volume one is one of his best works. Top Ten is pretty good too, I'd check out the first two volumes and then pick up the Top Ten the 49'ers. Promethia, Tommarrow Stories, and Tom Strong are fun, but not as good as the other two.

He also finished up Lost Girls but I haven't read so I can't say if that's worth picking up.

As far as other authors that you didn't include I'd reccomend We3, Seaguy and Vinerama by Grant Morrision, We3 being the best. They're all pretty short and cheap volumes, but interesting and really worth reading.

And of course Fables, Y the Last Man, Solo, 100 Bullets, New Frontier, The Walking Dead, Invincible, and I don't know if you'd like it, but Stray Bullets is my favorite comic being published right now, errr when it was being published. And Charles Burns The Black Hole.

And Darwyn Cooke is doing a relaunch of The Spirit, could be good.


and whats google's deal with buy.com?

$10 off any order $30 and over. Can be used as many times as you have $.

It's been the rage in the DVD Bargain forum, but with Buy's prices on comics I hoped that you all were taking advantage as well.

Thanks for the advice. I'm familiar with most of what you mention (I'm lapsed, but still keep my feet wet).

I've a made a few $30($20) orders at Buy already, will add a few more before the month is out.

If you like "monster-type" series, a second vote for The Walking Dead. The Goon is a great monster/comedy series worth checking out as well.

Check out JSA by Geoff Johns if you like old-school DC. While some stories have been better than others, it's one of those titles that is always rock solid, and due to the revolving team nature of the book, there are endless stories to tell. Geoff Johns is basically the master when it comes to incorporating and making sense of past continuity and I love almost everything he does at DC including JSA, THE FLASH, INFINITE CRISIS, and GREEN LANTERN: REBIRTH.

Vertigo continues to put out all sorts of high quality stuff. My personal favorites are Y: THE LAST MAN, FABLES, and 100 BULLETS, and give them my highest recommendation.

I'll throw in a vote for WALKING DEAD as well. I also really enjoy INVINCIBLE by the same writer (Robert Kirkman). They're totally different style books, but I love them both.

From the Marvel side of things, DAREDEVIL has been and continues to be great. If you liked Miller's run, then you'll probably enjoy the current series (including runs by Kevin Smith, Brian Michael Bendis, and now Ed Brubaker) in its entirety. And while some hated it, I loved Grant Morrison's run on NEW X-MEN. Brian K. Vaughn's RUNAWAYS has also been a totally unexpected must read.

There's tons of other great stuff out there from the last few years. The industry has gone back to being very writer-centric after the artist-centric 90's almost killed it and has proceeded to put out some of the best stuff ever.

Thanks again everyone. I either had already or have now ordered a trade of every title mentioned in this thread (except X-men, I refuse to go there again, it would take Alan Moore writing it to get me back).

I read comics in the early 90s- mostly Marvel stuff like Spiderman, Fantastic Four, and X-Men, and early Image stuff like Spawn and Savage Dragon. Stopped reading since the mid 90s, but recently, I had a lot of time to kill at Borders and ventured over to the GN/TPB section and was amazed at all the stuff out there now. I really haven't followed any comic-related news in the last 10 years. Having then read through several of these threads about recommendations of what to get, I got the following at buy.com with the 10 off coupon:

Watchmen
Marvel 1602
Batman The Long Halloween

They all arrived today and I'm pretty excited. I'm looking to get some more, probably The Sandman, but it's hard to justify to myself spending all this money on comics all of a sudden when I haven't read in over a decade. On the other hand, that 10 off coupon sure is tempting!!

I would heartily recommend, almost demand, that you get Sandman. With the exception of lots of stuff by Alan Moore (Watchmen, Swamp Thing, V, League, Miracleman) and a couple things by Frank Miller (a couple Daredevil runs, the first Dark Knight), Neil Gaiman is my favorite writer in comics.

I bought 10 or so books, but am combing thru my piles tonight to see what I have, and will buy some more Alan Moore stuff before the google discount expires Tuesday.

24 orders thru google, most of them TPBs from Buy.

I'm back baby.

Just don't expect any Christmas presents until I pay this massive Visa bill off.....

I can email you my list of TPB's and single issue comics if you want them. I'll give you a good deal because I'm really just trying to clear up some space in my house. Let me know. [email protected]

Check out Promethea by Alan Moore. One of the best comics ever created, period.

Haven't read it yet (except for issue 1 maybe), but yes, I own pretty much everything that Alan Moore has written.

Check out DC/Vertigo's Preacher by Garth Ennis and Steve Dillon.
Absolutely, positively, my favorite comic series from the 1990s.

Although it came out 10 years ago, you may have overlooked Starman by James Robinson, since you didn't mention it. Lots of continuity references, from Golden to Modern Age. And it makes The Shade one of the coolest characters in the DC Universe. Also, James Robinson's The Golden Age is one of my favorites.

Another vote for Alan Moore's Top Ten. Even though you probably already have it, I like to take the opportunity to mention how much I enjoy that book. It pays to study the art carefully, particularly crowd scenes. You might pick up Marvin the Martian and K9 at a Roman Coliseum or a Charlie Brown version of Doctor Doom (or is that a Doctor Doom version of Charlie Brown). Some nice visual puns too, like a traffic accident scene with a passing vehicle containing Mr. Fantastic, Elastic Lad, Plastic Man and Elongated Man, uh, "rubbernecking".

Good call, I think I own almost every Preacher TPB, might as well try to finish the run before the sale ends tomorrow (it was extended).

I still haven't read a single page of Preacher, but I know I'll like it once I get a round to it. I liked some eary Ennis work, can't quite remember what it was....

Yep, Robinson was wowing me right around the time I took a step back from buying so much (for years I had monthly orders in the $100-250 range).

I'll check to see if I'm missing any Robinson TPBs.

I think I now own every Alan Moore TPB, except the new Lost Girls, which I think I'll pass on. Nice catches on those visual puns, AM often has nice little bonuses for the observant.

Let me know which ones you need. I have all of them except #6 because I sold that one last year.

I also recommend Powers. A really good series that my wife even got interested in.

Finally I have to mention my fav writer ever Jim Mahfood. Check out Grrl Scouts and then check out The Further Adventures of One Page Filler Man.