 | Green Arrow: Quiver (Green Arrow (Graphic Novels)) by Kevin Smith
Buy used from: £15.30 Kevin Smith got me back into comics. It's even more fun once you get to know the continuity but don't let that dissuade you. Oliver Queen: Legend.
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 | Daredevil: Guardian Devil v. 1 by Kevin Smith
Buy used from: £7.29 Another Smith story with his usual smartass dialogue. Crackling good fun from Marvel's Hornhead which should lead you to read the earlier Frank Miller run.
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 | Kingdom Come (Batman (DC Comics Paperback)) by Mark Waid
Buy used from: £9.83 An Elseworlds - alternative timeline - story that's simply brilliant. Cast of thousands... Ross' artwork gives it cinematic appeal.
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 | Marvels by Kurt Busiek
Buy used from: £8.99 This tells of the big events of the Marvel Age and how they impact on the 'real world' through the camera lens of an everyman, Phil Sheldon. And his one good eye.
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 | Golden Age by James Robinson
Buy used from: £8.00 Another Elseworlds tale, superbly told in words and shadowy, conspiratorial art. Great parallels with the post-WWII Red Scare. See also 'JSA Liberty Files'.
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 | Starman: Sins of the Father: v. 1 by James Robinson
Buy new: £11.69 / Used from: £2.79 The first of my favourite series. Great writing and Harris' art and decoration is sumptuous.
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 | The Complete Concrete by Paul Chadwick
Buy used from: £32.48 A different type of comic here. Human emotion, dreams and frailties. Wrapped up in 1000lbs+ of concrete.
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 | The Sandman: Preludes and Nocturnes (The Sandman) by Neil Gaiman
Buy new: £7.76 / Used from: £4.98 Took my time getting to Sandman, but it was so worth it. 11 in all. Get Hy Bender's companion book. And give Carey's 'Lucifer' a shot as well.
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 | The Authority : Relentless by Warren Ellis
Buy used from: £8.99 How a super-powered team would properly sort out despots et al. Let the headkicking commence. Mark Millar later took over from Ellis.
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 | 300 by Frank Miller
Buy new: £13.49 / Used from: £11.00 Frank Miller. Legend. No matter what he tackles - Sin City, Daredevil, Dark Knight. Er, forgetting DK2 maybe.
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 | Powers Volume 1: Who Killed Retro Girl?: Who Killed Retro Girl? v. 1 by Brian Michael Bendis
Buy used from: £3.60 The best consistent work by Bendis who writes one or two other books for a living, though not as well...
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 | The Complete Maus by Art Spiegelman
Buy new: £10.16 / Used from: £9.00 Simply because, comics fan or not, you should. A story you won't forget.
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 | Justice League: A New Beginning (Justice League (DC Comics)) by Keith Giffen
Buy used from: £2.99 Bwaaa-hah-hah-haaaaaa. Giffen and De Matteis have a great take on the JLA. More recent exploits also available in 'Formerly Known as the Justice League'.
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 | Sleeper Vol 01: Out in the Cold by Ed Brubaker
Buy used from: £4.06 Dirty, violent, sleazy, treacherous. And utterly unputdownable. Read the 'Point Blank' prequel too.
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 | Yossel April 19, 1943: April 19, 1943 - A Story of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising by Joe Kubert
Buy used from: £16.00 A sad tale of what could have been, told in raw, hurried pencil. Quite beautiful.
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 | Top Ten Book 1 by Alan Moore
Buy used from: £22.49 One of Moore's best, though Watchmen's more 'worthy' and 'From Hell' deeper. And Ha's art is full of so many little details. Two books only so far.
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 | Fables: Legends in Exile (Vertigo) by Bill Willingham
Buy new: £6.25 / Used from: £4.30 Fairytales of New York. Not quite the bedtime reading of your childhood. Unless you're quite disturbed. A great series with so much material to mine for inspiration.
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 | Superman: Secret Identity by Kurt Busiek
Buy used from: £64.68 Truly one of the best Superman stories ever. And it's not even really about him. Sort of.
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 | Astro City: Confession (Kurt Busiek's Astro City) by Kurt Busiek
Buy new: £9.71 / Used from: £11.43 The second Astro City book, but the best story. The others aren't shabby though.
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 | Charley's War: 2 June-1 August 1916 by Pat Mills
Buy new: £8.96 / Used from: £11.29 The Great War, from a boy's comic ' Battle', but subversively far more grown up than that.
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 | Y: The Last Man Vol. 1 - Unmanned by Brian K. Vaughan
Buy new: £7.24 A great idea which flags a little in its execution, but still great storytelling. See also Vaughan's 'Ex Machina'.
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 | Hellboy: Seed of Destruction by Mike Mignola
Buy used from: £2.13 A classic character who turns his back on hell, wisecracks with the undead and usually beats the crap out of them too. Brilliant artwork too.
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 | Inhumans by Jae Lee
Buy used from: £5.90 Not the best known Marvel characters but a story well worth discovering.
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 | Squadron Supreme TPB by Mark Gruenwald
Buy new: £14.92 / Used from: £10.98 The original, predating Straczynki's 'Supreme Power' retelling. Both fantastic tales, both expertly told. Check out JMS' 'Rising Stars' too.
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 | Attack of the Deranged Mutant Killer Monster Snow Goons (Calvin and Hobbes Series) by Bill Watterson
Buy new: £5.97 / Used from: £2.49 And just because comics aren't all about capes and lycra. Classic. Everyone should have a Hobbes.
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