Good comics that aren't collected in trades?
June 6, 2017 12:00 PM Subscribe
I'm dipping my toe into reading and buying comics. Mostly, I've been picking up well-regarded trade paperbacks, like All-Star Superman, the new Vision series, and Saga. What should I be looking for that's not collected into trades? I'm open to anything that's more-or-less complete, but one arc in a larger series is fine. My goal is to have a short list of issues that I can hunt through boxes for. I'm interested in all comic genres and publishers.
Yeah, most modern comics end up in trades. However, you might want to consider the back issue bins at your local comic shop, especially if they have cheap dollar-or-less bins. It's kind of like thrift store shopping; a lot of junk, but every now and again you find some gems.
posted by Eikonaut at 11:46 PM on June 6, 2017
posted by Eikonaut at 11:46 PM on June 6, 2017
Best answer: As others have pointed out, a surprisingly high number of modern published comics end up reprinted in TPB form, and this has been so for probably the last decade. Even lower volume publishers like IDW, Dark Horse, and Boom see many of their offerings republished in collected editions. So, if you really want to hunt down cheap back issues, you will likely be looking for books published in the 90s or earlier. There are books from these eras that are reprinted and that are incredible, such as Usagi Yojimbo, ElfQuest, Love & Rockets, Sandman, From Hell, Bacchus, etc. etc.
As for me, I've been reading comics since the mid-80s and teach Illustration and Graphic Design at the University level. That is just to say that I have broad tastes in comics and will pick up books that have interesting-to-me art with perhaps a so-so story. The books I look for in back issue bins are:
Very interesting art (although pre-digital)
Atari Force - published by DC in the early 80s, this book has some of the best Jose Luis Garcia Lopez art I've found. JLGL has some fame as the guy who created the DC house style of the 70s and 80s, which you now see on merchandise at Target. I like his art for the experiments he did with non-standard page composition, which runs throughout Atari Force. The series lasted 20 issues and is kinda an offbeat sci-fi story.
Amethyst, Princess of Gemworld - also published by DC in the early 80s, this book has some beautiful Ernie Colon covers and interiors. Colon was one of the early Hispanic artists in American comics and has a beautiful graphic sensibility that is reminiscent of some of the better advertising illustration of the 60s/70s. Colon also was one of the two primary creators behind the graphic adaptation of the 9/11 Commission Report. IIRC, Amethyst was published in a 15-issue series, a 12-issue series and a 4-issue series at different points in the 80s.
Interesting Story (although pre-modern continuous narrative traditions)
Nth Man - The writer, Larry Hama, is underrated in the world of comics authorship. While he is primarily known as the creator of the G.I. Joe mythos and the writer of its long-running comic, he was able to work more freely in Marvel's short-lived Nth Man series, which lasted 16 issues. Nth Man has some interesting parallels to our current geopolitical situation, as it is a near-future dark satire of Soviet/American nuclear brinksmanship.
Anything from Milestone Comics - this functioned as an imprint of DC Comics, and it was minority-owned and operated. Different titles have their strengths and weaknesses, but I am always interested when I find a new-to-me issue of Hardware, Static, Xombi or Blood Syndicate, among others. Xombi has an interesting Grant Morrison Doom Patrol vibe to it.
Nostalgic Fluff that I Like -
West Coast Avengers - this was the comic that really got me into reading comics around age 10. I had read some before this, but the bright colors and the way the series' tone swerved between lighthearted LA banter and bathos drew me in! At this point, I have the whole run save for one issue. With Roger Stern serving as the writer and Al Milgrom on art, this book stands, to me, as the epitome of the Marvel house style of the 80s. I don't know that I really recommend you look for it, as it is cheesy, corny silliness that likely looks wildly underdeveloped to someone just now getting into comics.
Justice League Europe - I don't find that the Giffen/DeMatteis writing holds up as well as I remembered on the sister title JLA, but for some reason, I kinda like JLE. I wish they would do better reprints, for in lots of issues Bart Sears' overly dense linework on cheap paper has degraded to a bit of a sludge.
A surprising amount of Flash comics through the years - Ol' Barry and Ol' Wally have had a fair number of creators through the years - Cary Bates with Carmine Infantino, Mark Waid with Mike Weiringo, Geoff Johns with Scott Kolins... My favorite is one of the lesser-lauded teams: Bill Messner-Loebs and Greg LaRocque. Messner-Loebs authorial voice just really jibed with my own outlook, I guess. He merged an underdog Midwestern sensibility with a progressive and liberal outlook. Wally West grappled with social inequality and having one of the earliest gay co-stars in mainstream comics. Runner-up is probably the Bates/Infantino final run for Barry Allen in the early 80s. Cary Bates is famous (or infamous) in the world of comics writing for spinning up wild one-issue plots. However, his swan song on the original Flash comic was an early experiment in continuous storytelling as Barry Allen's life falls apart over the span of 20 or 30 issues. Infantino is one of the titans of American comics, and his final years of Flash art are phenomenal to my eye. Like Garcia Lopez he uses the page layout in terrifically experimental and expressive ways. In fact, Francis Manapul's recent run on the current version of Flash was lauded (and rightly so) for creative visual storytelling, but he certainly stood on Infantino's shoulders.
Happy Hunting!
posted by Slothrop at 4:40 AM on June 7, 2017 [2 favorites]
As for me, I've been reading comics since the mid-80s and teach Illustration and Graphic Design at the University level. That is just to say that I have broad tastes in comics and will pick up books that have interesting-to-me art with perhaps a so-so story. The books I look for in back issue bins are:
Very interesting art (although pre-digital)
Atari Force - published by DC in the early 80s, this book has some of the best Jose Luis Garcia Lopez art I've found. JLGL has some fame as the guy who created the DC house style of the 70s and 80s, which you now see on merchandise at Target. I like his art for the experiments he did with non-standard page composition, which runs throughout Atari Force. The series lasted 20 issues and is kinda an offbeat sci-fi story.
Amethyst, Princess of Gemworld - also published by DC in the early 80s, this book has some beautiful Ernie Colon covers and interiors. Colon was one of the early Hispanic artists in American comics and has a beautiful graphic sensibility that is reminiscent of some of the better advertising illustration of the 60s/70s. Colon also was one of the two primary creators behind the graphic adaptation of the 9/11 Commission Report. IIRC, Amethyst was published in a 15-issue series, a 12-issue series and a 4-issue series at different points in the 80s.
Interesting Story (although pre-modern continuous narrative traditions)
Nth Man - The writer, Larry Hama, is underrated in the world of comics authorship. While he is primarily known as the creator of the G.I. Joe mythos and the writer of its long-running comic, he was able to work more freely in Marvel's short-lived Nth Man series, which lasted 16 issues. Nth Man has some interesting parallels to our current geopolitical situation, as it is a near-future dark satire of Soviet/American nuclear brinksmanship.
Anything from Milestone Comics - this functioned as an imprint of DC Comics, and it was minority-owned and operated. Different titles have their strengths and weaknesses, but I am always interested when I find a new-to-me issue of Hardware, Static, Xombi or Blood Syndicate, among others. Xombi has an interesting Grant Morrison Doom Patrol vibe to it.
Nostalgic Fluff that I Like -
West Coast Avengers - this was the comic that really got me into reading comics around age 10. I had read some before this, but the bright colors and the way the series' tone swerved between lighthearted LA banter and bathos drew me in! At this point, I have the whole run save for one issue. With Roger Stern serving as the writer and Al Milgrom on art, this book stands, to me, as the epitome of the Marvel house style of the 80s. I don't know that I really recommend you look for it, as it is cheesy, corny silliness that likely looks wildly underdeveloped to someone just now getting into comics.
Justice League Europe - I don't find that the Giffen/DeMatteis writing holds up as well as I remembered on the sister title JLA, but for some reason, I kinda like JLE. I wish they would do better reprints, for in lots of issues Bart Sears' overly dense linework on cheap paper has degraded to a bit of a sludge.
A surprising amount of Flash comics through the years - Ol' Barry and Ol' Wally have had a fair number of creators through the years - Cary Bates with Carmine Infantino, Mark Waid with Mike Weiringo, Geoff Johns with Scott Kolins... My favorite is one of the lesser-lauded teams: Bill Messner-Loebs and Greg LaRocque. Messner-Loebs authorial voice just really jibed with my own outlook, I guess. He merged an underdog Midwestern sensibility with a progressive and liberal outlook. Wally West grappled with social inequality and having one of the earliest gay co-stars in mainstream comics. Runner-up is probably the Bates/Infantino final run for Barry Allen in the early 80s. Cary Bates is famous (or infamous) in the world of comics writing for spinning up wild one-issue plots. However, his swan song on the original Flash comic was an early experiment in continuous storytelling as Barry Allen's life falls apart over the span of 20 or 30 issues. Infantino is one of the titans of American comics, and his final years of Flash art are phenomenal to my eye. Like Garcia Lopez he uses the page layout in terrifically experimental and expressive ways. In fact, Francis Manapul's recent run on the current version of Flash was lauded (and rightly so) for creative visual storytelling, but he certainly stood on Infantino's shoulders.
Happy Hunting!
posted by Slothrop at 4:40 AM on June 7, 2017 [2 favorites]
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The only series I can think of off the top of my head recently that didn't get collected into trades in the same form is the Island anthology put out by Brandon Graham and Emma Rios on Image comics. It had serialized stories, and the longer stories are getting put out in trades, but the single issues aren't being reprinted. It recently ended.
Even buying single issues at cover price alone is more expensive than buying trades. For comic collecting, I generally try to buy up series I love as single issues for posterity's sake.
posted by sleeping bear at 9:49 PM on June 6, 2017