 | X-Force Volume 1: New Beginning TPB by Peter Milligan
Buy used from: £9.62 Peter Milligan's superhero media-saturation satire thrusts a group of young supers into a glamourous "pop group" setting where they could die on any mission. Cynical, but has a lot of heart.
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 | Nextwave: This Is What They Want v. 1 by Warren Ellis
Buy used from: £18.02 Warren Ellis gives 90's superheroics the respectful homage they deserve. Ellis' sense of humour clicks well with me, so I love this.
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 | Supreme Power: Contact v. 1 by J.Michael Straczynski
Buy used from: £1.50 A Kansas couple see a rocket land on Earth, rush to the impact site and find a baby... only to have it possessed by the US military. A great reimagining of Superman and the JLA in the real world.
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 | Fantastic Four: Unthinkable
Buy new: £10.79 / Used from: £1.62 I used to find it hard to care about any of the Fantastic Four apart from maybe the Thing. Mark Waid breathes new life into the family simply by writing them well.
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 | Punisher MAX: In the Beginning v. 1 by Garth Ennis
Buy new: £6.19 / Used from: £4.54 Garth Ennis took on the Punisher years ago, and transformed a lame duck title into a pitch-black, slightly absurd organised crime-fighting comic.
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 | New X-Men: E is for Extinction v. 1 by Grant Morrison
Buy used from: £4.00 A few years back, Grant Morrison took the X-Men and turned them on their collective head. Too bad the changes were too radical for Marvel: once Morrison left the title, the changes were all reverted!
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 | Wolverine Weapon X (Wolverine (Mass)) by Barry Windsor-Smith
Buy used from: £7.61 A man called Logan is drugged and used as a test specimen by a mysterious corporation on account of his strange healing abilities. The origin of Wolverine.
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 | Wolverine: Brotherhood v. 1 (Wolverine (Mass)) by Greg Rucka
Buy used from: £8.83 Greg Rucka's Wolverine comics are fun pulp; my only complaint is they're a bit shallow, but oh well. Also worth reading: "Wolverine: Meltdown" by Walter Simonson (limited space, can't list it)
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 | Iron Man: Extremis by Warren Ellis
Buy used from: £38.28 Hyper-modern computer-assisted artwork joins forces with Warren Ellis for this Iron Man story. Excellent.
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 | Black Panther: Client Tpb by Christopher Priest
Buy new: £9.89 / Used from: £1.50 Chris Priest takes the Avengers second-stringer and makes him into a badass African, technophiliac version of Batman. Great!
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 | Ultimate Spider-Man Volume 1: Power and Responsibility: Power and Responsibility v. 1 by Bill Jemas
Buy used from: £1.50 IMO, the Ultimate comics line has sort of lost its way amidst mediocre titles, unnecessary crossovers and fanservice. The first eight volumes of Ultimate Spider-Man are still pretty fun though.
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 | JLA/Avengers: The Collectors Edition by Kurt Busiek
Buy used from: £91.08 You need a little understanding of superhero continuity for some of this, but don't sweat it too much; just enjoy the zillions of heroes running around and fighting, and you'll be fine.
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 | Absolute DC: The New Frontier (Absolute (DC Comics)) by Darwyn Cooke
Buy used from: £52.94 Darwyn Cooke's retelling of the origin of the JLA, and an homage to 1950-60's superhero and war comics. Too bad there's WAY too much Hal Jordan, who I think is boring. Wonderful artwork though.
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 | Catwoman: The Dark End of the Street by Ed Brubaker
Buy new: £6.89 / Used from: £3.25 Catwoman was always a T&A character you'd be embarrassed to admit to reading in mixed company; one Cooke/Brubaker rehaul later, and she's one of the best, coolest Gotham City characters. Start here!
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 | Batman: Harley and Ivy (Batman) by Paul Dini
Those nostalgic for the old Batman cartoon can do worse than this collection, the main meat of which is a Bruce Timm-drawn anti-heroine adventure. Too bad the Winick story in the middle kind of sucks.
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 | Superman: Secret Identity (Superman (DC Comics)) by Kurt Busiek
Buy used from: £22.95 Clark Kent one day discovers he has superpowers. However, he's not from Krypton; he's a boy in our own world, and he has to learn to grow up as Superman in a world where superheroes are fiction.
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 | Superman: It's a Bird by Stephen T. Seagle
Buy new: £15.29 / Used from: £9.50 I know, I know: "Why should I read Superman comics? He's boring, he always wins, he's too powerful", right? This book might not allay your misgivings, but it'll give you a new perspective on Superman.
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 | Birthright (Superman (DC Comics)) by Mark Waid
Buy used from: £2.42 A noughties retelling of Superman's earliest adventures, his first meeting with Lex Luthor, and Luthor's first attempt to discredit him. Really good, and actually believable!
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 | Batman: Long Halloween by Jeph Loeb
Buy new: £8.46 / Used from: £7.25 All of Loeb's collaborations with Tim Sale are worth reading, here's the quintessential "Batman's early years" murder-mystery yarn, telling the origin of Two-Face. Also, the sequel "Dark Victory".
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 | Batman: Year 100 (Batman) by Paul Pope
Buy new: £7.16 / Used from: £5.28 Mysterious "new(?)" Batman, dystopian futuristic Gotham, Commissioner Gordon's grandson... what you'd expect from a story called "Batman: Year 100", really. Pope's artwork rules, though.
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 | All Star Superman by Grant Morrison; Frank Quitely
Buy used from: £68.81 Finding himself more powerful than ever, but also dying after a mission to the Sun, Superman finds himself up against the only adversary left worthy of him; himself, repeatedly, in myriad guises...
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 | Seven Soldiers of Victory: v. 1 by Grant Morrison
Buy used from: £10.00 Seven heroes must work together to stop the insidious Sheeda from laying waste to Earth - but without ever actually interacting with one another! Seven interwoven tales collected in four books.
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 | Shazam!: Monster Society of Evil by Jeff Smith
Buy new: £21.24 / Used from: £10.95 Okay, so I've not read this yet. I'll add a description when I have. It's by the author of "Bone", so I'm definitely interested!
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 | Planet Hulk Omnibus by Greg Pak
Buy new: £10.30 / Used from: £8.42 Again, not read, but looks like a whole ton of fun. Hulk as Spartacus can't be a bad thing.
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 | Annihilation Book 1 TPB: Bk. 1 by Keith Giffen
Buy new: £12.63 / Used from: £8.99 Third strike! I've not read this either and I'm a terrible person. This Marvel Universe space opera sounds a lot more fun than "Civil War", though.
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