Favorite TPB's and Graphic Novels from the 90's?

[noiseredux]

I'm slowly trying to compile a big list of awesome 90's stuff I want to read. Seriously. Some of it will be re-reading, or rather fleshing out stuff I sporadically read back in the day. And much will be totally new to me. Basically I want a kind of survey of some of the best stuff, or most important stuff from the era. But as a catch: I specifically want either compiled runs or graphic novels, not gigantic omnibus books or lists of various issues. Maybe this isn't the ideal way to attack such a list, but it'll help me get started for my own sanity.

Anyway, I'm open to suggestions on stuff that I should definitely be including in such a list. A lot of what I've been tentatively jotting down is very Marvel-centric right now, as that's always been where my biggest interest has been - ESPECIALLY in the 90's. But go ahead and suggest non-Marvel stuff that you think I should be considering as well.

Bonus points for pictures and explanations of why I should be interested in stuff that I'm not familiar with. Thanks!

[SJNeal]

You're in luck, because DC is currently putting out some of their best 90's material in chronological, comprehensive trades! Your post doesn't specify what you are and aren't familiar with, so I'll reserve explanations until you've provided a little more info . Either way, my recommendations include (but aren't limited to):

Birds of Prey By Chuck Dixon (currently 2 vols. available)

Nightwing By Chuck Dixon (5 vols.)

Green Arrow By Mike Grell (6 vols.)

The Flash By Mark Waid (1 vol.)

Supergirl By Peter David (1 vol.)

Wonder Woman By Mike Deodato (1 vol.)

[Mace Dolex]

That's a toughie right unless you weren't collecting comics in the 90's and have only heard tales of legends of how bad comics were in those days then it's kind of tough to pick a favorite storyline.

And since you're inquiring just only MARVEL they have more misses than hits, Spider-Man Clone Saga, Heroes Reborn/Return, X-Men X-Cutioner Song, X-Men Onslaught, X-Men Age Of Apocalypse.

Trust me maybe read up entries on Wikipedia on them before you buy, most of the art is typical 1990's excess extreme garbage.

[noiseredux]

That's a toughie right unless you weren't collecting comics in the 90's and have only heard tales of legends of how bad comics were in those days then it's kind of tough to pick a favorite storyline.

And since you're inquiring just only MARVEL they have more misses than hits, Spider-Man Clone Saga, Heroes Reborn/Return, X-Men X-Cutioner Song, X-Men Onslaught, X-Men Age Of Apocalypse.

Trust me maybe read up entries on Wikipedia on them before you buy, most of the art is typical 1990's excess extreme garbage.

I should have explained better... I was reading comics in the 90's. Mostly Marvel. So even if they're considered mostly bad, I have a soft spot for them.

[kp404]

I should have explained better... I was reading comics in the 90's. Mostly Marvel. So even if they're considered mostly bad, I have a soft spot for them.

Well stay away from Heroes Reborn if you can. Best stuff is definitely Age of Apocalypse, the Road to Onslaught trades are much better than the actual Onslaught saga, and Death and Return of Superman is mixed, but Death of Superman is a lot of fun.

Vertigo is the place to go for the best of the 90s though. Hellblazer, Preacher, Sandman, Transmetropolitan, The Invisibles, Lucifer, the list goes on and on. Seriously, Vertigo's '90s run is my favorite era of comics (mix in Saga of the Swamp Thing in the 80s too).

[MRP]

Neil Gaiman's Sandman-one of the most well-respected series in comics, started in the late 80s but ran through the 90s

James Robinson's Starman-one of the best, most well-realized super-hero series of the 90s

Jeff Smith's Bone-a classic from start to finish, action, adventure, fantasy, intrigue and pure fun

Colleen Doran's A Distant Soil-intelligent sci-fi

The Spectre by John Ostrander & Tom Mandrake (only 2 volumes available though) by far my favorite super-hero comic of the 90s

Kurt Busiek's Astro City-a classic take on super-heroes form an altenrate point of view, compelling and well crafted

Warren Ellis' Stormwatch/Authority-revolutionized the way super-hero stories were told and ushered in the era of widescreen comics

-M

[Hawkgirl_70]

You're in luck, because DC is currently putting out some of their best 90's material in chronological, comprehensive trades! Your post doesn't specify what you are and aren't familiar with, so I'll reserve explanations until you've provided a little more info . Either way, my recommendations include (but aren't limited to):

Birds of Prey By Chuck Dixon (currently 2 vols. available)

Nightwing By Chuck Dixon (5 vols.)

Green Arrow By Mike Grell (6 vols.)

The Flash By Mark Waid (1 vol.)

Supergirl By Peter David (1 vol.)

Wonder Woman By Mike Deodato (1 vol.)

I CANNOT WAIT until all of these are released as well as their follow-ups so I can then Hardcover Bind them!
I wish DC wouldn't wait an avg of 6 months to release each book. Why not 3 or 4?

[noiseredux]

Well stay away from Heroes Reborn if you can. Best stuff is definitely Age of Apocalypse, the Road to Onslaught trades are much better than the actual Onslaught saga, and Death and Return of Superman is mixed, but Death of Superman is a lot of fun.

Vertigo is the place to go for the best of the 90s though. Hellblazer, Preacher, Sandman, Transmetropolitan, The Invisibles, Lucifer, the list goes on and on. Seriously, Vertigo's '90s run is my favorite era of comics (mix in Saga of the Swamp Thing in the 80s too).

for Marvel, I think I'm trying to focus on a lot of the big stuff. Back then I'd read comics, but couldn't keep up with things necessarily. So I'd read random issues with cool covers. So this list I'm compiling, I'm trying to make sure I hit 'classics' like the Infinity Guantlet, Revenge Of The Sinister 6, and things like that. I'm kind of coming up with a big list, and then I'm going to prune it down to the stuff that I think interests me most, or creates a solid syllabus if you will. Kind of a crash course in revisiting stuff I thought was awesome, but probably missed out on in the bigger picture.

Death/Return Of Supes - THANK YOU! I was totally blanking on that one. That's exactly the kind of thing I'm looking for from DC.

Vertigo I was never too familiar with.

[paurru]

I still have the old original Death of Superman and World Without Superman trades and I still enjoy reading them.


Plus I still can't believe the old Death of Superman trade was pretty cheap at 4.99 or 5.99 where today newer trade paperbacks cost up to 40 bucks brand new at comic book shops

[noiseredux]

here's an overly long rough draft of stuff I'm considering - THIS IS JUST THE MARVEL STUFF SO FAR. I'll be adding DC, and other publishers once I prune this part of the list. Anything that isn't bolded is stuff that either I'm not sure is worth reading yet, or I'm just unfamiliar with it and haven't made a decision yet. Anything BOLD is stuff that I genuinely do want to read for one reason or another. Let me know if there's stuff not bolded that I should definitely read or definitely not read haha.

1990:

Spider-Man: Torment
Elektra Lives Again

1991:

The Amazing Spider-Man: Return Of The Sinister Six
X-Men: X-Tinction Agenda
The New Fantastic Four: Monsters Unleashed
Infinity Gauntlet
X-Men: Mutant Genesis

1992:

Avengers: Galactic Storm
The Invincible Iron Man: War Machine
Spider-Man: Carnage
Captain America: Man & Wolf
The Punisher: War Zone
Infinity War
The Incredible Hulk: Ghost Of The Past
X-Men: X-Cutioner's Song

1993:

Venom: Lethal Protector
Deadpool: The Circle Chase
Maximum Carnage
Infinity Crusade
X-Men: Fatal Attractions
Daredevil: The Man Without Fear

1994:

Marvels
Deadpool: Sins Of The Past
Spider-Man: Clone Saga

1995:

X-Men: Age Of Apocalypse

1996:

Captain America: Operation Rebirth
X-Men: Onslaught

1997:

1998:

Heroes Reborn: The Return

1999:

Avengers Forever
X-Men: The Hunt For Professor Xavier
Daredevil: Guardian Devil
X-Men: Magneto War
Earth X

[Balakin]

for Marvel, I think I'm trying to focus on a lot of the big stuff. Back then I'd read comics, but couldn't keep up with things necessarily. So I'd read random issues with cool covers. So this list I'm compiling, I'm trying to make sure I hit 'classics' like the Infinity Guantlet, Revenge Of The Sinister 6, and things like that. I'm kind of coming up with a big list, and then I'm going to prune it down to the stuff that I think interests me most, or creates a solid syllabus if you will. Kind of a crash course in revisiting stuff I thought was awesome, but probably missed out on in the bigger picture.

Death/Return Of Supes - THANK YOU! I was totally blanking on that one. That's exactly the kind of thing I'm looking for from DC.

Vertigo I was never too familiar with.

the good thing about Vertigo is that you don't have to be familiar with it, everything is it's own series, barely any connections so you can just start with whatever you are interested in. Their approach is very different from superhero books though, maybe the closest is Sandman Mystery theatre, that's a gritty and realistic take on the golden age pulpy Sandman stuff. Great series.
Also the art in them is very different too.

[JAG2045]

You're in luck, because DC is currently putting out some of their best 90's material in chronological, comprehensive trades! Your post doesn't specify what you are and aren't familiar with, so I'll reserve explanations until you've provided a little more info . Either way, my recommendations include (but aren't limited to):

Birds of Prey By Chuck Dixon (currently 2 vols. available)

Nightwing By Chuck Dixon (5 vols.)

Green Arrow By Mike Grell (6 vols.)

The Flash By Mark Waid (1 vol.)

Supergirl By Peter David (1 vol.)

Wonder Woman By Mike Deodato (1 vol.)

Yeah its great DC have started releasing full collections like these, there's also:

Batgirl (Cassandra Cain) (2 volumes - 3 out in Jan)

Robin (Tim Drake) (3 volumes - 4th out in July)

Azrael (1 vol - 2nd out in March)

JLA (Morrison & others) (8 volumes - final volume 9 out in Jan)

Catwoman (Brubaker & Others) (5 volumes with 6th out in Jan)

Harley Quinn (4 volumes of whole series)

[Rincewind]

Anyway, I'm open to suggestions on stuff that I should definitely be including in such a list. A lot of what I've been tentatively jotting down is very Marvel-centric right now, as that's always been where my biggest interest has been - ESPECIALLY in the 90's. But go ahead and suggest non-Marvel stuff that you think I should be considering as well.

Despite how low quality some of the output from Marvel was in the 90's (see the thread in the Marvel section), there was still a lot of good stuff coming out. I will try to limit myself to runs that have been collected.

Marvels - This is a must buy. Kurt Busiek and Alex Ross tour the Marvel history with gorgeous artwork.
X-Men - I'd hold of on this until you want to do a deep dive. If you do want to jump in then try Executioner's Song, Fatal Attractions, Blood Ties, Wedding of Cyclops and Phoenix, Age of Apocalypse, and Onslaught will take you through the essentials. I would recommend stopping there as the titles began to meander and a strong creative team did not return until the 2000's.
Generation X - A fun quirky title mutant title that stood out compared to the other mutant titles. Classic Vol 1 and 2 show the origin and take you through the first year of the title.
Excalibur - Stick with the Alan Davis return to the title as writer/artist. Available in Excalibur Visionaries: Alan Davis Vol 1 - 3.
Infinity Gauntlet/War/Crusade - Jim Starlin's return to Marvel. Start with the Infinity Gauntlet Omnibus (or IG TPB and Silver Surfer: Rebirth of Thanos), Infinity Gauntlet Aftermath, Infinity War, IW Aftermath, Infinity Crusade Vol 1 and 2. I would stop there. Starlin worked on the Blood and Thunder crossover, but I would avoid that.
Inhumans by Paul Jenkins and Jae Lee - An underrated mini series that gave nuance and realpolitik to the Inhumans.
New Warriors - There is an omnibus out that collects 1-26, and various annuals and guest appearances. Fabian Nicieza as writer was one of the strong points in 90's Marvel.
Captain America by Mark Waid - Try Operation Rebirth first. If you like it, continue with To Serve and Protect, American Nightmare, Red Glare, Land of the Free, and Sentinel of Liberty.
Hulk: Future Imperfect - Great little standalone by Peter David and George Perez.
Black Panther by Priest - Started in 1998. A 4 volume complete collection has been released.
Clan Destine - A more obscure title from Alan Davis. The first volume has 1-8 of their initial series and the X-Men crossover series.

That should keep you busy for awhile.

[Hawkgirl_70]

Yeah its great DC have started releasing full collections like these, there's also:

Batgirl (Cassandra Cain) (2 volumes - 3 out in Jan)

Robin (Tim Drake) (3 volumes - 4th out in July)

Azrael (1 vol - 2nd out in March)

JLA (Morrison & others) (8 volumes - final volume 9 out in Jan)

Catwoman (Brubaker & Others) (5 volumes with 6th out in Jan)

Harley Quinn (4 volumes of whole series)

A little off topic... But of these listed above, does anyone have an idea or rough guess how many volumes each of these will end up being? Assuming they print the entire runs?

[JAG2045]

A little off topic... But of these listed above, does anyone have an idea or rough guess how many volumes each of these will end up being? Assuming they print the entire runs?

Harley Quinn is already complete in the 4 trades

JLA will be complete when volume 9 comes out in Jan (1997-2006 series, the title then got a brand new start/issue 1 after Infinite Crisis)

Catwoman will be complete when volume 6 comes out in Jan (the 2002-2008 series)