Lesser Known Comics as Good as DKR and Watchmen

[K7P5V]

You are right. I have the mini and the GN in a single collection (Chance Meetings) and I mistakenly thought the GN was a mini as well. I also have the first ten issues of the ongoing, some of which had Cliff Chiang on art. I should see if the rest of it was ever collected.

And now for something completely different: Batman/Judge Dredd: Judgment on Gotham. I mean, the art alone makes it classic.

Totally agree with you in regards to Judgment on Gotham. DC always does well when it comes to inter-company crossovers. Other crossover classics would be Batman/Grendel: Devil's Riddle and Batman/Grendel: Devil's Bones/Devil's Dance.

[CaptCleghorn]

A number of suggestions already that I like as much or more than Watchmen (has Daytripper been mentioned?) and there are plenty more besides but I actually don't think that any comic I have read is better than Watchmen on a pure craft level. Sure, plenty of comics resonate with me far more than Watchmen - indeed, for all that I love it, Watchmen is quite cold and calculated - but I can't think of any comic book, past or present, that is as immaculately put together as Moore and Gibbons' masterpiece.

Your points about Watchmen are spot on. The series is brilliantly technical and crosses all of its Ts and dots all of its Is. One could argue the actual story being at the top of the heap, but the detail with which it was created is something I haven't seen duplicated. I welcome mention of any other stories that anyone thinks matches or surpasses Watchmen's technical detail.

[cgh]

Your points about Watchmen are spot on. The series is brilliantly technical and crosses all of its Ts and dots all of its Is. One could argue the actual story being at the top of the heap, but the detail with which it was created is something I haven't seen duplicated. I welcome mention of any other stories that anyone thinks matches or surpasses Watchmen's technical detail.

I think for that you'd have to leave the world of superheroes and look at "serious" comics. I'm not sure if these match Watchmen in terms of clinical precision, but here are a few books with more going on than meets the eye:

The Airtight Garage by Moebius. Also The Gardens of Aedena, particularly the later books. Moebius was the opposite of Moore in various ways. Just as Moore was the master of conscious precision, Moebius was unparalleled at intuitive, subconscious creation so they contrast nicely.

The Dormant Beast series of GNs by Enki Bilal

Cerberus by Dave Sim (at least up until Melmoth, after which it goes thoroughly off the rails)

From Hell by Alan Moore and Eddie Campbell. Maybe the only real competition with Moore is Moore himself. I think this is actually Moore's best work and it shares some themes with Watchmen.

[Gero4568]

Great pick. One of the criteria for this list is "lesser-known". It would be great to learn about some classic obscurities.

Here are a couple:

Human Target by Peter Milligan. I believe there were two minis, if memory serves.

Arak: Son of Thunder by Roy Thomas from the '80s. This series often featured incredible art from Alfredo Alcala and, to the best of my knowledge, has never been collected.

Not obscure but not mentioned enough: Planetary by Ellis and Cassady.

I just picked up the first few issues recently. Arak is amazing, 10/10.

[dornwolf]

It doesn't get as much attention but Alan Moore's run on Supreme. It's basically the SA Superman run through the nineties. It even has a tongue in cheek take on the constant reboots.

The absolute best Superman story ever written. I like comparing it Watchmen actually. If Watchmen, as everyone claims, deconstructs the superhero then that Supreme run is the tonal opposite and puts it all back together.

[Bored at 3:00AM]

The absolute best Superman story ever written. I like comparing it Watchmen actually. If Watchmen, as everyone claims, deconstructs the superhero then that Supreme run is the tonal opposite and puts it all back together.

Agreed. I prefer Moore's "reconstructist" work on Supreme and Tom Strong much more than his "serious work" like Watchmen.

[dancj]

A number of suggestions already that I like as much or more than Watchmen (has Daytripper been mentioned?) and there are plenty more besides but I actually don't think that any comic I have read is better than Watchmen on a pure craft level. Sure, plenty of comics resonate with me far more than Watchmen - indeed, for all that I love it, Watchmen is quite cold and calculated - but I can't think of any comic book, past or present, that is as immaculately put together as Moore and Gibbons' masterpiece.

Yeah, that's spot on.

It's brilliant enough to be in my top three, but it's preciseness stops it trumping The Dark Knight Returns and Batman Year One

[LifeIsILL]

Books of Magic
Black Orchid
DMZ
Green Lantern Emerald Dawn
America vs Justice Society
Hawkworld
Time Masters
Omega Men