Top ten

[admin]

What are your ten favorite comic books/comic strips/graphic novels of all time?

[skythorn]

my first post .. and so with no particular respect to my favour (thus not in order)

Frank Miller's 'The Dark Knight Returns' - graphic novel
Alan Moore's "Watchmen" - comic / graphic novel
Neil Gaiman's Sandman series - comic
Girl Genius (www.girlgeniusonline.com) - web
crimson Dark (http://www.davidcsimon.com/crimsondark/) - web
Wiley Millars' "Non Sequitur" (www.gocomics.com/nonsequitur/ ) - newspaper
Peter David's "X-factor" - comic
J. Michael Straczynski's 'Rising Stars" - comic
Garth Ennis's "Hellblazer" issues 78–83 'Rake at the Gates of Hell' - comic
Chris Claremont (art by Dave Cockrum and John Byrne)'s "Dark Pheonix saga" in Uncanny X-Men #101 - #108

... it would appear that I am a miserable person from the above list, but honestly, anything else is the case!

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Honourable mention goes to Airship Entertainment's Buck Godot - http://www.airshipentertainment.com/buckcomic.php - loving this one almost as much as Girl Genius !

[Brightonian]

My favourite comic book heroes are Dan Dare and Dr Strange.

Otherwise my allegiances tend to fluctuate. Since re-discovering comics in the mid-90s I've become an admirer of Alan Moore and Neil Gaiman: Promethea is a particular favourite, and John Constantine appeals to me as a Londoner born and bred. Also I liked what JMS did with Doc Strange and the Fantastic Four.

Sorry, I'm not good at these list thingies.

[admin]

Skythorn's top four mimic my top four. And I love the Steve Ditko Dr. Strange. On the other hand, I think for Dan Dare, you have to have read it at a certain age.

I generally find comic strips to be higher quality than comic books, and there are collections of most of the major strips easily available. My top five strip are Calvin and Hobbes, Prince Valiant, Doonesbury, Pogo, and Captain Easy. I publish a strip reprint magazine, Comics Revue, and I'm currently working on a Captain Easy book for Fantagraphics.

If I limit my list to science fiction and fantasy, the Flash Gordon stories by Harry Harrison and Dan Barry are great, as are the Sky Masters stories drawn by Jack Kirby and Wally Wood, and written by Dick and Dave Wood (no relation to Wally). Also, the Star Trek strip by Tom Warkenten was better than most Trek adaptations. I particulary remember a story about Bones' evil twin called "The Real McCoy". In fantasy, there is a memorable Pogo in Prehysteria sequence and Segar's great fantasy epics in Thimble Theatre (better known as Popeye). There's the gentle fantasy of Barnaby, by Crockett Johnson. And the absolutely unclassifiable Odd Bodkins by Dan O'Neil.

In current comic books, I read everything written by JMS and Joss Whedon, but my favorite comic book is Amelia Rules! by Jimmy Gownly.

In on-line comics, my favorite is Girl Genius by Phil Foglio, which is also regularly collected in paperback form.

[Brightonian]

Yes, it certainly helps to have grown up with Dan Dare and the Eagle. In many ways the 60s were an ideal time to be a young boy: SF was coming true in the lunar programme, while I was too young to realise it was driven by Cold War imperatives. I feel sorry for today's kids for whom the moon landings are ancient history.

[skythorn]

I just found a couple of nice on-line series to follow - check them out if you have the need?

http://www.gunnerkrigg.com/index2.php - by Tom Siddel
http://www.drmcninja.com/ - a doctor who is also a Ninja (and irish) - played for laughs.

[Brightonian]

I generally find comic strips to be higher quality than comic books, and there are collections of most of the major strips easily available. My top five strip are Calvin and Hobbes, Prince Valiant, Doonesbury, Pogo, and Captain Easy.

I like Doonesbury, also Ted Rall, though I can see how some find his uncompromising style hard to take. Our own Steve Bell produces a strip which you'll either love or find totally baffling. As a kid one of my favourite strips was the Perishers, kind of like a British Peanuts with a philosophical Old English Sheepdog in place of Snoopy.

[admin]

Love the Perishers. Especially the clams in the tide pool who think the shaggy dog is God.

Another great British strip is Agatha. Also Modesty Blaise.

[Brightonian]

So the Eyeballs in the Sky are known across the pond? I'm impressed.

Yes, Modesty Blaise is another classic.

[admin]

I publish a magazine, Comics Revue, that carries Modesty Blaise, and I'm always pleased and surprised on how well those stories hold up on repeated rereading. It's just always nice to spend time with Modesty and Willie.