Heroic Times











{November 23, 2007}   LIST OF 100 FAVORITE GRAPHIC NOVELS!

    Updated 18 May 2009

In slot 45 you’ll find the updated review for Alex Simmons’ BLACKJACK!

Updated 19 Sept 2008

In slot 46 I’ve added the Graphic Novel series JUSTICE by Jim Kruegar, Alex Ross and Doug Braithwaite (The Brit artist, not the Utah guy).

Updated Tuesday 10 Jun 2008
There are a couple glaring omissions that I’ve corrected with this update. You’ll find them at slots 48 and 47 respectively, and really… they just slipped under my radar or would have been on this list from day one. I consider them to be… what is best about graphic novels.

Updated Monday 26 May 2008

Hey guys, been a bit but I’ve finally added to the Graphic Novels list.

I’ve added numbers 57 through 50. Enjoy, and please feel free to leave your own comments on great Graphic Novels!!

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Hey guys, because you demanded it! (all sixty of you :) ) I’ve decided to create a list of what I, in my biased way, consider some of the best graphic novels of all time.

Let it be known most of these titles you can pick up through numerous vendors (not just Amazon. I’m pretty unhappy with those guys. I mean sure, use their site for reviews and research if you want… but when it comes to buying, there are FAR better options out there.


From your local booksellers, to even some decent online alternatives such as INSTOCK TRADES, POWELLS, BUY.COM, and even yours truly. The HT store is now open, so if you can’t find books or cds or dvds (etc.), anyplace else… come to me. Email me at heroictimes at yahoo dot com.

Well enough self promotion. Onto the list of… THE 100 FAVORITE GRAPHIC NOVELS!!!!

This list is not ordered from best to worst, in fact it’s in no particular order other than from well known to obscure (and I try, when possible, to group by writer).


So we start off with the books EVERYONE mentions. And I can’t argue with their inclusion on any list. They are on everyone’s list for a reason… they are masterpieces, and I’ll very quickly list them. They are:

100. WATCHMEN-“The accumulated filth of all their sex and murder will foam up about their waist, and all the whores and politicians will look up and shout ‘Save Us!’… and I’ll look down and whisper… NO!”
99. FROM HELL
98. MIRACLEMAN BOOK I,II,III (Alan Moore’s legendary run, from issue 1 to 16)
97. SWAMP THING:ALL SIX ALAN MOORE TPBS (Collects Alan Moore’s 4 year run on the title. From roughly issues 20 to 64)
96. BATMAN YEAR ONE
95. THE DARK KNIGHT RETURNS
94. DAREDEVIL BORN AGAIN
93. SIN CITY:THAT YELLOW BASTARD
93. KINGDOM COME

So that’s a list of the usual suspects:

4 Alan Moore achievements…FROM HELL just edging out the brilliant WATCHMEN. And the three books in his legendary MIRACLEMAN run, comprise one story (which unfortunately is out of print, but back issues can still be found, and are worth the finding)… it is the definitive story of the thunder and the lightning, of the mensh unt uber-mensh. And of course his entire three year run on SWAMP THING must make anyone’s best list. Those are the only Alan Moore books you’ll find on this list.

I’m going to speak heresy here and say I’m not a big fan of Moore’s LEAGUE OF EXTRAORDINARY GENTLEMEN, and thought James Robinson’s (STARMAN) script and Stephen Norrington’s (BLADE) direction made a movie that I liked better than the book. [Yes, I dug the movie LEAGUE OF EXTRAORDINARY GENTLEMAN. I thought it was as kick-ass as Norrington's BLADE film, and I think it's been unfairly castigated for not being slave to the book. But I think defined on its own merits, as a two fisted love letter to an age of pulp heroes past... it succeeds brilliantly. Norrington hasn't made a movie since, and I think that's a bloody shame. He's a brilliant fucking director.]


Frank Miller also has 4 titles on this list, BATMAN YEAR ONE the followup to his genre changing work THE DARK KNIGHT, being unbelievably even better than THE DARK KNIGHT! Also on this list is DAREDEVIL:BORN AGAIN which is absolutely stunning, and tends to get overlooked. And bringing up the rear is the best of Frank Miller’s SIN CITY books, THAT YELLOW BASTARD. Honorable mentions for Frank Miller being RONIN, WOLVERINE MINI SERIES, HARDBOILED, MARTHA WASHINGTON, and BIG GUY AND RUSTY THE ROBOT.

KINGDOM COME by Alex Ross and Mark Waid rounds out the list of usual suspects. As the title that brought me back to comics, it is single handedly responsible for me even having this blog. A monumental work. Now we move on to increasingly more eclectic choices.

92. MARVELS
91. THE WORLD’S GREATEST SUPERHEROES-All the Alex Ross and Paul Dini Treasury books in one place. Essential!
90. UNCLE SAM
89. MYTHOLOGY-not a graphic novel, an art book, but it’s an important enough work to the field of graphic literature that it bodes inclusion

88. ASTRO CITY:LIFE IN THE BIG CITY
87. ASTRO CITY:FAMILY ALBUM
86. UNCANNY X-MEN CLAREMONT/COCKRUM/BYRNE OMNIBUS
85. THE FANTASTIC FOUR: LEE/KIRBY OMNIBUS #1
84. THE FANTASTIC FOUR: LEE/KIRBY OMNIBUS #2-It’s been said the foundation of Marvel Comics was shaped in this legendary Lee and Kirby run. Brilliant creation after brilliant creation. Doing more in their 100 issue run, then has been done in most of the hundreds of issues since. Required and fun reading!
83. WEIRD SCIENCE EC ARCHIVES VOL 1-The EC books helmed by Feldstein, are astoundingly good! And most amazingly of all is not only that they hold up, but they blow away most modern comics. Engaging, fun, brilliant story-telling.
82. WEIRD SCIENCE EC ARCHIVES VOL 2
81. SHOCK SUSPENSTORIES EC ARCHIVES VOL 1
80. TALES FROM THE CRYPT EC ARCHIVES VOL 1
79. CRIME SUSPENSTORIES COMPLETE 5 BOOK COLLECTION
78. BATMAN ILLUSTRATED:NEAL ADAMS VOL 1
77. BATMAN ILLUSTRATED:NEAL ADAMS VOL 2
76. THE DEADMAN COLLECTION:NEAL ADAMS-Neal Adams changed the whole face of comic art. His importance to the medium cannot be overstated. And this volume, as well as the BATMAN ILLUSTRATED are indispensable vehicles for viewing a master, redefining the medium… one comic at a time.

75. THE GOLDEN AGE FLASH ARCHIVES VOL 1-Very few Silver Age age stories hold up for me, and even fewer Golden age stories. This volume of Gardner Fox’s FLASH being the exception. Wonderful sci-fi based stories, fun and engrossing!
74. THE HOUSE OF MYSTERY SHOWCASE
73. JONAH HEX SHOWCASE-The best of the Showcase books. Staggeringly good stories, wonderfully rendered, that look great in black and white.
72. THE PRIVATE FILES OF THE SHADOW HC- collects the great O’Neil/Kaluta run

Those all had more or less historic significance, or compilations of older books. Now onto more varied choices:

71. MOSAIC by Kyle Hotz
70. GOLDFISH- the book that put Brian Michael Bendis on the map
69. TORSO-Bendis’ finest Indie Book!
68. ALIAS- With the big toys to play with, Bendis creates his finest work to-date. Stunning.
67. ENEMY ACE:WAR IDYLL- Wonderfully Illustrated by George Pratt
66. BATMAN THE LONG HALLOWEEN
65. SUPERMAN FOR ALL SEASONS-The two best pairings of Loeb and Sale
64. DEAD END
63. TOTT”S TALES OF ERROR
62. GREETINGS FROM HELLVILLE
61. CINEMA PANOPTICUM- Thomas Ott is creating some of the most disturbing and brilliant graphic novels. Wordless, intricately drawn tales of the bizarre.
60. GREEN LANTERN/GREEN ARROW Oneil/Adams Collection
59. EARTH X- Kreuger’s somber tale of the twilight of heroes, grows on you.
58. FROM INSIDE- Wonderfully illustrated, BEAUTIFULLY PRODUCED collection by John Bergin. A surreal, and horrific train journey… on seas of blood. A recommended read.


57. THE EXPENDABLE ONE-Soon to be a movie, the book hits on all cylinders. Jason Burns scripts something that stalks brilliantly from the tongue in cheek to the terrifying. And it is completely complemented and bolstered by the fantastic art of Bryan Baugh. His cartoony art, somehow works perfectly, is expressive and broad and when needed harrowing. Strongly recommended.
56. BLACK HOLE by Charles Burns
55. MAXIMORTAL by Rick Veitch
54. BRAT PACK by Rick Veitch
53. DAREDEVIL: THE DEVIL INSIDE AND OUT by Brubaker and Lark
52. THE PUNISHER: RETURN TO BIG NOTHING by Grant and Zeck
51. THE MYTHOLOGY OF AN ABANDONED CITY- Written and drawn by Jon J Muth, one of a trilogy of highly stylistic, and beautiful experiments in the medium (including M and DRACULA), that he created in the late 80s and early 90s. A little hard to find, but worth the hunting down.

50. STRAY BULLETS Vol 1 HC- Before Sin City, before 100 Bullets, before Criminal— this was the series that put the crime comic, and in many ways Indy comics, on the map. The first issue of Stray Bullets— was mind blowing. A harrowing dark noir odyssey, that left every jaw dropped. That first issue alone is worth the price of admission.

That’s all for now. Will add more titles throughout the coming days.

Quick one entry update:

49- M- Jon J Muth’s M (that for years was only known of by the rare few, who happened upon the issues when they first came out) has finally been collected in a wonderful hardcover by Abrams Press. It was one of the books I was most looking forward to in 2008 and it does not disappoint! It’s an early contender for my graphic novel of the year. And you cannot beat the price. Muth spent two years writing and painting this love letter to Fritz Lang’s M. The word masterpiece does get thrown around, but I think it’s absolutely fitting here. Painters get that word tossed at them for one painting, and this is a book of hundreds. Highly recommended.

48- CAGES- Cages?! How the heck did I forget to put Cages on this list?! It is such a bloody achievement, Dave Mckean, writing and drawing a mediation on life. It is alchemy distilled on paper, and comes with the absolute highest recommendation. That it is out of print, is a crime against literature, against art, and ultimately against humanity. (But if it’s any consolation— I’ve got my copy suckers! I’M JOKING!) Along with FROM HELL, WATCHMEN, and the next entry… proof positive that Graphic novels and great literature… can be the same thing.

47-PAUL AUSTER’S CITY OF GLASS-Artist David Mazzucchelli had a short, brief comics career, that he has given up, to become a full time teacher. But in his brief tenure as artist he helped craft three unquestionable masterpieces. BATMAN YEAR ONE with Frank Miller. DAREDEVIL BORN AGAIN also with Frank Miller, and this graphic novel Adaptation of CITY OF GLASS. It’s as heady, and existential a work as you’ll find, and as endearing and bittersweet. As it asks questions of identity, and language, and silence… and self… and leaves you to seek your own answers. An endlessly re-readable book, and like CAGES if you haven’t read it, if you don’t own a copy… then you’re missing a work that can enrich… that has value, and that can offer wisdom… even to the wise. Highest recommendation.


46- JUSTICE is the 2 year in the making, twelve issue mini-series by the creative team of writer Jim Kruegar, Plotter/Painter Alex Ross, and Penciler/Designer Doug Braithwaite. A kind of grown up, darker version of the classic Super Friends vs Super Villains television series of the the 70s, the strength, and draw, of this series (like their previous collaborations) lies in it being a complete, self-contained story. Something that is always hard to pull off in a medium that is very event driven, very big into stories that crossover into other titles.

So in that way projects like JUSTICE are very attractive to new readers looking for a story that is easily accessible, and easily understandable, and requires no extensive history or prior reading to get into. As of this writing there is no collected edition of all twelve issues, so this review is based on the first two books, eight issues.

The plot, like all Ross’ plots is a classic one. The idea of the hero, the heroic ideal, being forged under fire. The first thing that strikes you about the series, is the layouts. The panel layouts. They are very inventive and visceral. Immediately I see Doug Braithwaite’s much ignored contribution to this series, and it is pretty darn fantastic. His characters aren’t as beautiful as Ross could have done alone, Braithwaite’s characters are stocky and broad, sometimes unwieldy looking victims of foreshortening, but his layouts, his perspectives, his shot choices are fantastic. Add over this, Ross’ legendary paints, his sophistication, his beautification and rendering, and you have a collaboration that just works.

Though like I mentioned it is a collaboration that for Braithwaite proved largely thankless. When he’s mentioned at all, his work is called “pencil sketches” (WASHINGTON POST) but more often than not is simply ignored “JUSTICE features some of Ross’ most striking work” (BOSTON HERALD).

You really cannot make the comment, that THE BOSTON HERALD made. The penciler has always been, will always be, the artistic heart of a book. One of my favorite pages in the series is page #113 in the 1st Hardcover. The full page splash where Cheetah attacks Wonder Woman. If you look at the original pencils, that is all Braithwaite. From the posing, to the musculature, to the folds in garments, to the absolutely ravishing beauty of Wonder Woman, even in this moment of pain. It may just be Braithwaite’s finest moment to that point, and people dismiss it as belonging to Ross.

And that’s a real disservice, because I don’t know an artist whose work has grown, and continues to grow, as dramatically as Braithwaite.

From early awkward art such as PUNISHER KILLS THE MARVEL UNIVERSE to his stirring Layouts for JUSTICE to his recent pencils and inks for SECRET INVASION: THOR, which looks stunning.


For more on Braithwaite’s contribution go here:

http://www.comicon.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=36;t=005106


That rant off my chest, the series itself, eight books in is fittingly one of the best things DC has done in years. Jim Kruegar since EARTH X has impressed me as a writer with a strong grasp of the Homerian, the Kirbyesque, the Mythic, and those traits are in full bloom with JUSTICE. Indeed, while JUSTICE is a far simpler storyline than his previous collaborations with Alex, I feel it’s also a far stronger and more memorable work. Much of this has to do with the iconic nature and less angst ridden nature of the DC heroes… they lend themselves to being mythic. And JUSTICE takes advantage of this, to craft stories that are dire while still being dazzling. The dialog loses its way periodically in the 2nd volume, but not enough to hamper the story’s momentum. But overall Kruegar’s take on these characters rings true, their familial aspects, their love for their mates and their friends, and for those they have sworn to protect.even the moments of humor amidst the heroism.


I’ll revise the review once I get the third and final volume read, but I think it will only strengthen the impressions made on me by the first two volumes. That what you have in JUSTICE, while not on the level of KINGDOM COME, is still head and shoulders better than much that has come before. The efforts of these three men combined, is an altogether fun and satisfying tale, greater than the sum of its parts… that will stand the test of time.

45- BLACKJACK; BLOOD AND HONOR- Created and written by Alex Simmons, with a rotating cast of artists, BLACKJACK: BLOOD AND HONOR true to its title… tells a generational story set in a world between wars. With the War to End all Wars still fresh on everyone’s mind, its sequel waits in the wings. And nowhere is that more apparent than in the Orient, where Japan, her sun on the rise, seeks to shine upon all. But there are voices of reason in Japan, that would resist the march to War. Voices that need protecting. And in America of the 30s, that means they need the man called… Blackjack. The last of a breed of Mythmakers and Mythbreakers, of men who rose above the labels of other men, of hard fighting, hard living, hard loving men, who made their own definitions. The man known as BlackJack was of this breed. Like Jack Johnson, who was more than a fighter, but was something not unlike a force of nature, or that other Johnson, Bumpy Johnson, the Black Mobster who ruled Harlem like some last, best king; BlackJack, the man born Arron Day, of this remarkable stuff was made.


BLOOD AND HONOR is part thriller, part espionage tale, part pulp serial, as Blackjack must decipher friend from foe, and lie from truth, and somewhere at the heart of it come to terms with his father’s legacy, and his own.


The graphic novel collects and completes the four part series BLOOD AND HONOR. And I was initially put off by the art-style, it’s very much the Image 90s style, add to that the fact you have a hodgepodge of artists throughout, and I had to work through the first few pages. But once you do work through those initial pages, you find yourself pulled headlong into a compelling, exciting story that races you along at breakneck pace. It’s a fantastic read, that rises above the issues with the art. And to be fair all of the artists are competent storytellers, it would just be nice if the interior art was as compelling as the cover and the story. But all in all, a recommended read. And here’s hoping Mr. Simmons has a few more BLACKJACK stories on the horizon.

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