An Overview of all Cartooning

[Prince Disarming]

I've only started getting into comics for about 8 months now, and while I have been enjoying it, I think it is time that I try and get a broader appreciation of the canonical works of cartooning. To do this I have taken a look at other peoples best of lists and added some stuff I've heard a lot about but haven't experienced yet. I was hoping that you lovely people could look over the list and give me feedback to try and determine if I have the right works resented.

Comic Strips
• Krazy Kat
• Little Nemo in Slumberland
• Peanuts
• Prince Valiant
• Gasoline Alley

Superhero Comics
• Plastic Man by Jack Cole
• Shazam!/Captain Marvel by C.C. Beck
• Fantastic Four by Jack Kirby and Stan Lee
• The Uncanny X-men by Chris Claremont and John Byrne
• Astro City by Kurt Busiek


Non-Superhero Mainstream Comics
• Walt Disney's Uncle Scrooge: The Seven Cities Of Gold by Carl Barks
• "Corpse on the Imjin" and Other Stories (The EC Comics Library) by Harvey Kurtzman
• Spirit by Will Eisner
• The Sandman by Neil Gaiman and various
• Saga by Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples

Alternative Comics
• Maus by Art Spiegelman
• Ghost World by Daniel Clowes
• The Palomar Stories by Gilbert Hernandez
• Building Stories by Chris Ware
• Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi

Manga
• Akira by Katsuhiro Otomo
• A Drunken Dream and Other Stories by Moto Hagio
• Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind by Hayao Miyazaki
• The Push Man and Other Stories Paperback by Yoshihiro Tatsumi
• Buddha by Osamu Tezuka

Euro Comics
• Tintin in Tibet by Hergé
• Epileptic by David B.
• The Incal by Moebius and Alexandro Jodorowsky
• It Was the War of the Trenches by Jacques Tardi
• Blacksad by Juan Díaz Canales and Juanjo Guarnido

Cartoons
• Puck magazine editorial cartoons
• The New Yorker cartoons of Peter Arno
• The editorial cartoons of Herblock
• The Willie and Joe cartoons by Bill Mauldin
• The Far Side by Gary Larson


Thank you for any help you can provide

[Michael P]

That's all a very good start. There's plenty more to discover afterwards, but you should be kept quite entertained for a while with that stuff. I would say Stan Lee and Steve Ditko's Spider-Man is another can't miss.

[ed2962]

That's actually a really great start. I might add for comic trips check out Terry and the Pirates. For mainstream non-superheroes maybe look at reprints of the EC library...Frontline Combat, Tales from the Crypt, Mad comic book. For Superhero stuff perhaps Frank Miller's 80's stuff, his Daredevil, Electra and Batman stories, and Ronin as well.
For contrast you might look at underground comics from the 60, 70's...Crumb, Shelton, Spain, Robbins

[Prince Disarming]

Do you think Terry and the Pirates is more significant than Prince Valiant? I was trying to pick the best adventure strip, but opinion seems split on that front. I should also probably get some earlier alternative comics in there like you suggested.

[Ghost]

Looks like a good starting list. Youll find more as you go along.

If you enjoy Little Nemo in Slumberland, maybe look into works of W.W. Denslow. His 'Billy Bounce' stories preceded Little Nemo, and was possibly the first comic character with a super power. He also was the original illustrator for the Wizard of Oz series and had some amusing strips.

[Billy Batson]

Walt Disney's Uncle Scrooge: The Seven Cities Of Gold by Carl Barks

Carl Bark's Duck stories in general are great.

Ghost World by Daniel Clowes

Why not Eightball as a whole?

The Palomar Stories by Gilbert Hernandez

Jaime's Locas too - most seem to prefer Jaime over Gilbert, though both of them are great.

The Push Man and Other Stories Paperback by Yoshihiro Tatsumi

Any of Yoshihiro's short story collections are fine but A Drifting Life is a much more personal work of his.

Buddha by Osamu Tezuka

Phoenix would be a good choice too.

Blacksad by Juan Díaz Canales and Juanjo Guarnido
Saga by Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples

Meh.

[ed2962]

Do you think Terry and the Pirates is more significant than Prince Valiant? I was trying to pick the best adventure strip, but opinion seems split on that front. I should also probably get some earlier alternative comics in there like you suggested.

Well I know that Milton Caniff and Roy Crane were very influential during that era as well as Foster. I'd say read 'em both if you have the time ( and money).

[Prince Disarming]

Alright, I will take these all into consideration. Thanks for the help everyone.

[Darrell D.]

Comic strips: I would add Thimble Theater by E. Segar and L'il Abner by Al Capp. Fantagraphics collected both years ago, and should still be able to find volumes at decent prices online.

[Billy Batson]

Comic strips: I would add Thimble Theater by E. Segar and L'il Abner by Al Capp. Fantagraphics collected both years ago, and should still be able to find volumes at decent prices online.

Fanta never collected Li'l Abner. Kitchen Sink Press did but not fully and Dark Horse tried it but that wasn't much of a success. Now IDW is collecting it.
There's also Pogo.

[Darrell D.]

Fanta never collected Li'l Abner. Kitchen Sink Press did but not fully and Dark Horse tried it but that wasn't much of a success. Now IDW is collecting it.
There's also Pogo.

Duh, you are so right...I don't know why I thought it was Fanta...

[Billy Batson]

Duh, you are so right...I don't know why I thought it was Fanta...

Easy mistake. Fanta has collected almost every other big time comic strip.