Good crime/noir stories

[missingmarch]

Human Target & Sleeper are the best two that I've read that I've seen mentioned in this thread.

[Batmil]

Whoa, amazing amount of replies. Thanks everyone!
I see that the Brubaker run on Daredevil is on sale at cheap-comics so I will pick those two ultimate collections up. Besides that I noticed that there's a sleeper omnibus which collects the prequel series. Does anyone here own it that could give me some info on the book quality wise? I totally forgot that I didnt get the chance to read Gotham Central yet, bought it a while ago so imma start on that soon! So much to read so little time...

[MartinNL]

Whoa, amazing amount of replies. Thanks everyone!
I see that the Brubaker run on Daredevil is on sale at cheap-comics so I will pick those two ultimate collections up. Besides that I noticed that there's a sleeper omnibus which collects the prequel series. Does anyone here own it that could give me some info on the book quality wise? I totally forgot that I didnt get the chance to read Gotham Central yet, bought it a while ago so imma start on that soon! So much to read so little time...

The Sleeper omnibus is arguably the best produced DC omnibus to date.

[Billy Batson]

Whoa, amazing amount of replies. Thanks everyone!
I see that the Brubaker run on Daredevil is on sale at cheap-comics so I will pick those two ultimate collections up. Besides that I noticed that there's a sleeper omnibus which collects the prequel series. Does anyone here own it that could give me some info on the book quality wise? I totally forgot that I didnt get the chance to read Gotham Central yet, bought it a while ago so imma start on that soon! So much to read so little time...

The Sleeper omnibus is the best DC omnibus quality wise - binding and etc.

[Balakin]

Brubaker's DD is a direct continuiation of Bendis' run, so maybe you should start with that. I've read those years ago so can't remember how hard it will be to just jump in at the start of Brubaker's era.
Oh and I've only seen one mention of Scalped. That's a f&@{n amazing series too.

[CrazyOldHermit]

If you're looking for good noir-style crime comics you can't skip "Crime SuspenStories" from EC Comics. It's one of the first crime comics to take influence from film noir (and unlike modern stories it was actually produced during the classic period of film noir!).

[lvizzz]

What about those small format books from Vertigo, series was called Criminal.

[victorxd1999]

Whoa, amazing amount of replies. Thanks everyone!
I see that the Brubaker run on Daredevil is on sale at cheap-comics so I will pick those two ultimate collections up. Besides that I noticed that there's a sleeper omnibus which collects the prequel series. Does anyone here own it that could give me some info on the book quality wise? I totally forgot that I didnt get the chance to read Gotham Central yet, bought it a while ago so imma start on that soon! So much to read so little time...

Sleeper is the best Dc omnibus ever made. It's also my number 1 noir story ever.

[Johnny Thunders!]

If you're looking for good noir-style crime comics you can't skip "Crime SuspenStories" from EC Comics. It's one of the first crime comics to take influence from film noir (and unlike modern stories it was actually produced during the classic period of film noir!).

I bet those are good, I think the Will Eisner Spirit fits that bill too.

[Big Bad Voodoo Lou]

As noted earlier, you should definitely read Point Blank before Sleeper, even though Colin Wilson's art doesn't fit the narrative as well as Sean Phillips'. If you buy the Sleeper Omnibus, Point Blank is included. (I have the four older Sleeper volumes and the separate Point Blank TPB.)

If you REALLY like Point Blank and Sleeper, I'd also have to recommend the Alan Moore's Complete WildC.A.T.s TPB, even though it isn't a crime/noir comic. Believe it or not, Moore introduced one of the main characters of Sleeper in his mid-'90s WildC.A.T.s run, which is better than it had any right to be, and featured some gorgeous Travis Charest art.

If you want some noir-influenced superhero stories with a bit of humor as well, I'll recommend Peter David's mid-2000s X-Factor run, which focused on Jamie "Multiple Man" Madrox running a detective agency out of New York's Mutant Town neighborhood. It started with the miniseries Madrox: Multiple Choice (reprinted as a TPB that is sometimes labeled X-Factor Vol. 0) and then ran through several volumes. Either that one or X-Factor Vol. 1: The Longest Night would be great jumping-on points. I think the quality and the noir feel lasted through X-Factor Vol. 5, but after that, the book suffered from a Secret Invasion crossover in Vol. 6 with some of the worst comic art I've ever seen (sorry, Larry Stroman). I don't feel that it ever recovered from the shift in tone after that.

If you want something with more of a pure action movie feel but also some crime stuff and political intrigue, I'll also recommend The Losers, the Vertigo series by Andy Diggle and Jock. It was collected as five shorter TPBs or two longer ones, and also made into an underrated movie that starred Jeffrey Dean Morgan (The Comedian!), Zoe Saldana (Gamora!), and Chris Evans (Captain America!). Evans in particular was fantastic, but the comic was far better than the movie.

And while it's definitely an exercise in style over substance, Francesco Francavilla's Black Beetle is another pulpy noir comic with his usual stunning art and unique coloring, although influenced more by the movie serials and two-fisted pulp heroes of yesteryear than detective fiction or film noir.

[victorxd1999]

Whoa, amazing amount of replies. Thanks everyone!
I see that the Brubaker run on Daredevil is on sale at cheap-comics so I will pick those two ultimate collections up. Besides that I noticed that there's a sleeper omnibus which collects the prequel series. Does anyone here own it that could give me some info on the book quality wise? I totally forgot that I didnt get the chance to read Gotham Central yet, bought it a while ago so imma start on that soon! So much to read so little time...

I'd start with Bendis' Daredevil, as Brubaker's run is basically a continuation of Bendis' run.

[Batmil]

Thanks for the heads up about Bendis' run. Are the solo miller daredevil runs readable without any history?

[victorxd1999]

Thanks for the heads up about Bendis' run. Are the solo miller daredevil runs readable without any history?

Yes. If you know the basics about Daredevil (he's a blind lawyer, used to date his secretary, has 2 friends (reporter and his partner in law) who know his secret identity etc.) Miller's run and Man Without Fear and Born Again should be easy to understand. Born Again is the best Daredevil story period.

[FanboyStranger]

What about those small format books from Vertigo, series was called Criminal.

Vertigo Crime, actually. The best was Milligan and Romberger's The Bronx Kill. The rest were a mixed bag. I really like Andy Diggle's Ratcatcher, but that's more of a thriller than your usual crime comic.

[Diamond]

If you find it, grab Torpedo, by Enrique Sánchez Abulí and Jordi Bernet. I know IDW published some HCs but I don't know if they are available.

But it's worth tracking the series. Better than the Brubaker/Phillips stuff in my opinion.