 |
You’re about to start off on a wonderful journey… |
A comic book primer Or Initiate’s guide to the
cult of the OverMan
Not too
long ago, I had the pleasure of friending Chris Gavaler, a nerd scientist
extraordinaire and fellow spandex enthusiast. I also had the even greater
pleasure of going through his blog, which focuses on the superhero mythos,
ideal and trivia in ways my blog wishes it could.
 |
But it’s gonna. |
I had
proposed a collaboration with Mr. Gavaler, which was held back due to personal
matters on my behalf and will be thankfully completed in full in the near
future (mostly because I hate letting the cool people I meet down).
So instead
of the original collaborative article aiming to serve as a beginner’s primer to
the DC and Marvel cosmology, what you’re going to get instead is (what I hope
is going to be) a joint list of
COMIC BOOKS YOU NEED TO READ IF YOU WANT TO GET
INTO THE SUPERHERO GENRE
Now, keep
in mind that this is a guide intended for people starting off on the medium, not for hardened veterans, though there
are a couple good entries that some of you might have missed.
It is also
important to note that these comic books presented here are, for the most part,
completed mini-series or self-contained titles so that you (the aspiring nerd)
will not be disheartened at the sheer volume of the complete works presented.
So with
that in mind, let’s start off our list:
Supreme Power
 |
| It’s been ten years and a hundred reads and this cover still gives me the chills |
Once upon a
time, the creative team of Roy Thomas and John Buscema (two Silver Age
superhero titans) decided to create a comic book series titled Squadron
Supreme, which was the closest thing Marvel ever came to reproducing the JLA
without getting sued.
It was a
story of superhuman responsibility, of terrors from beyond the stars and of the
most powerful beings in the universe messing up their chance to make the world
a better place.
Fast-forward
to 2000 and scifi legend and character developer extraordinaire J. Michael
Straczynski takes on the series and revamps it, reboots it and retools it,
turning it into a veritable masterpiece.
Supreme
Power is essentially a cynical, much more realistic take on the actual presence
of superhumans in our world and is the absolute perfect primer to people who
like the idea of a superhero mythology and teams but cannot be bothered with a
huge backstory and tons of trivia.
(There’s
also been a Supreme Power spinoff, titled Squadron Supreme but that wasn’t as
good as the original series and also didn’t seem to actually go anywhere)
And since
we’re talking about Straczynski, there’s no way we can’t mention…
Rising Stars:
 |
| And lo, did the thirsting multitudes find solace in the middle of the wasteland… |
The 90’s
was a crappy time to be a superhero nerd. Most titles out there were garbage
and most heroes had pouches instead of a personality.
 |
| The black guy on the foreground has about a dozen pouches round his thighs. In Liefeld-speak, that means he’s important! |
Rising
Stars is the story of 113 children conceived on the eve of a UFO crash in a
small town in the USA, born with extraordinary powers. It’s actually a story of
extraordinary people struggling to survive in a world that doesn’t quite shun
them, as much as suppress their power.
It’s also a
story that’s much more brutal and optimistic than Supreme Power, with an ending
that makes you smile like an idiot for the rest of the day.
Moving on
to more familiar pastures, let’s check out some of the medium’s better known
heroes, starting off with…
All-Star Superman:
 |
| Six seasons of Lois & Clark abusing this scene and Frank Quitely gets it just right in one frame. Suck it, television. |
Grant
Morisson has made some weird stuff in his time, not all of it good. But for the
sake of All-Star Superman and every other work that revamps a popular character
and makes him cool and awesome again in brand new ways, I forgive him.
All-Star
Superman is the definitive Superman
series. It compresses the mythology of the OverMan into three (count them,
folks: 3) trade paperbacks and presents every great battle, idea and challenge
the Last Son of Krypton has ever faced, from his conception to his death,
requiring little to no knowledge of Kal-El’s origins or backstory.
And while
we’re at Superman, what better way to get to know him than…
Red Son:
 |
| First time I ever saw this frame, I could not decide whether I should feel awed or slightly amused… |
Red Son is
the story of Superman landing in the Soviet Union instead of the US out of
cosmic coincidence. It’s the story of the Man of Steel growing up in a country
ruled by a totalitarian regime, nurtured in ideals that hurt its people and
stunt its growth and his own personal struggle between obeying and upholding
the laws of man and doing what he does best:
Saving
people.
To Mark
Millar’s credit, Red Son is not an unintelligently written story about
communism VS everyone else or even a story about how in Soviet Russia, Superman
saves YOU! It’s a story about superhuman and human responsibility and also
stars the coolest Lex Luthor I’ve read to date, along with Russian Batman.
Speaking of
Batman…
The Dark Knight Returns:
 |
| If you’re going to die tomorrow, then read this shit right now. |
If you are
somehow unaware of Batman’s existence, if your only knowledge of the Batman
mythos comes through the Nolan trilogy, if you’re only just starting in comics
and want to see what all this Internet fixation with Batman’s about, then read
the Dark Knight Returns.
Not Strikes
Again. Returns. It’s the definitive, ultimate stand-alone Batman comic book, it
comes in a single trade paperback and tells you everything you need to know.
The ending is also chilling.
Overanalyzers
tend to spot far-right political notions in the narrative. To these people I
say: shut the fuck up and read the best
Batman story ever, Steve.
But since
we’re on Batman, why not look at a more canonical approach with…
Batman: Hush
 |
Ding…dong…the gang’s all here.
|
If The Dark
Knight Returns is the definitive newbie’s guide, then Hush is the best Batman
Crash Course in recorded history. It’s an action packed story that introduces
new readers to the entire cast of masked vigilantes of Gotham City, presents
Batman’s complete backstory (all four Robins included) depicts Batman kicking
Superman’s ass and presents old and brand new supervillains with a flair you
won’t find in other comic books.
Hush is one
of those comic books you just gotta read,
if you want to impress your friends with witty commentary explaining the trivia
of the Nolan trilogies next time you’re feeling the burning need to play the
intellectual.
But enough
about heroes. Let’s talk villains, shall we?
Bomb Queen:
 |
Uuuhh…errr…derp?
|
Tits, bums,
bombs, plots, violence, gore, villainy, great dialogue, cynicism, horrible
people, superheroes, supervillains, social commentary.
Bomb Queen
is the kind of comic book that has never once taken itself seriously while at
the same time presenting great stories in a dead serious manner. It’s funny (in
that horrible sort of way), it’s intelligent and above all every volume is
pretty much self-contained, which means that you aren’t really that pressed for
mythos throughout your read.
Bomb Queen
is also a pretty hot piece of ass, all things considered. On another note,
read:
Alan Moore’s Swamp Thing Run:
 |
| From Death to Divinity |
If you’re
never going to buy any comic book ever again, then buy Swamp Thing. Along with
his MiracleMan run, this is Alan Moore’s finest work in DC comics, beautifully
illustrated and presented.
But just in
case you aren’t yet convinced, here’s a few of the wonderful things you’ll get
to see through this series:
-DC
universe’s Hell and Heaven
-The Crisis
on Infinite Earths, condensed in a half-dozen pages that bore into your brain
and explode with awesome
-The rise
of Alec Holland to absolute lord of the biosphere
-Alien
Starship-worlds, yo.
Unless of
course you want to die without ever truly knowing beauty. Speaking of beauty…
Alan Moore’s Stories of the DC Universe:
 |
Batman’s laughing at you for
not having read it yet.
|
Superman’s
death. The Crime Olympics. A madman and his dream wife. The Killing Joke. The
Green Lantern known as Mogo. A world without light or colour. The Empire of
Tears. Worlds filled with wonder, watched over by immortal giants.
Pitch is
over. Go fucking buy it.
On a final
note, regarding the DC Universe in total…
Kingdom Come:
 |
Needs more Immediate Music
|
The word
‘epic’ is tossed around a lot in these days. People talk about how this and
that is awesome and how comic books are at their height, but not a single one
of them stops to consider that not every comic book is a comic book.
Some of
them are works of art.
Kingdom
Come is the series that should be sealed in an air-tight vacuum and translated
into every language, if only so that the alien settlers or future-monkeys that
will find it will know it for what it is: a tribute to the OverMan.
Alex Ross
paints a masterpiece, Mark Waid breathes life into it and makes you care and
that’s all you need to know.
Honorable Mentions:
Because
this list is going to get huge if I just keep going at it, I’ll add a few short
listing here for your convenience. These are titles that are intended for the
intermediate level of comic book enthusiasts, who have read the aforementioned
works and want more:
Pretty much everything I’ve reviewed on this
site, except Rogan Gosh and Dark Knight Returns
Wanted is the penultimate supervillain book, Planetary is superhero history, Rick Veitch’s the One is the embodiment of cynicism, Flex Mentallo is meta-superhumanity.
Wanted is the penultimate supervillain book, Planetary is superhero history, Rick Veitch’s the One is the embodiment of cynicism, Flex Mentallo is meta-superhumanity.
Alan Moore’s Supreme run:
 |
The worst artist and the best
writer in comic book history combine forces. Things turn out way better than
expected.
|
A reborn
version of a shitty comic book, Alan Moore’s Supreme is a look at every
superhero trope in existence with a fresh new perspective. It’s funny, it’s
clever, it’s fun to read but it’s very vexing to the uninitiated, since Supreme
is comprised of constant references to superhero history and might be too much
for those of your just getting into the superhero scene.
Garth Ennis’ Hitman:
 |
| I keep quoting this every day and as often as I can. |
Garth
Ennis’ work is blasphemous, witty and funny as hell. It pokes fun at every
single superhero trope and does it in a way that makes you feel at the same
time embarrassed as well as unbelievably proud of your superheroes.
It also
stars the nicest guy in comics to date.
The Authority:
 |
Warren Ellis’ own little
superhero universe.
|
The
Authority is violent, gruesome, wondrous and above all, GLORIOUS. It’s only
getting an honorable mention because I’m going to be reviewing it in detail in
the near future.
The only
reason why this series is not suggested for aspiring nerds is that it tends to
work with extremes: you’re either going to love it or you’re going to hate it,
without any middle ground to be covered.
That’s
about it for my iniate’s list, folks. I’m signing off, hoping that I’ve gotten
at least one of you hyped to read these series and explore the superhero medium
and its silent maelstrom through the multiverse.
Addendum:
Post a Comment
Δεν υπάρχουν σχόλια:
Δημοσίευση σχολίου