Amazing video!👍👏 I just began my comic book collection and found Toon Haven. They have an incredible range of digital comics for every genre, including the hard to find ones. Lifetime updates too!😁
For those that don't want the spoilers. Variant's Top 10: 1. Superman by Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely 2. Batman The killing joke by Alan Moore and Brian Bolland 3. The Punisher by Garth Ennis 4. Marvels by Kurt Busiek 5. Flash Rebirth by Geoff Johns 6. Watchman by Alan Moore 7. The Amazing Spiderman Kraven's Last Hunt by Dematteis 8. Daredevil The Man without fear by Frank Miller 9. V for Vendetta by Alan Moore 10. Batman The Dark Knight Returns by Frank Miller
I'm sorry, but there are some "big reveals" that aren't even close to spoilers. Clark Kent is really Superman?! Ok, so it's a big deal to Jimmy Olsen, but as far as the average reader is concerned it's a non-issue.
0:46 All Star Superman- Grant Morrisson 2:02 Batman Killing Joke Alan Moore 3:31 Punisher Max Garth Ennis 4:19 The Marvels Kurt Busiek 5:23 The Flash Reboth Geoff Johns Ethan Van Sciver 6:36 Watchmen 7:42 The Amazing Spiderman Kraven’s Last Hunt 8:39 Daredevil Man Without Fear 9:36 V for Vendetta 10:40 The Dark Knight Returns Frank Miller
I think he gave us enough info for each story to make us want to read, because I knew the story for the killing joke but far more interesting when I bought it. Even have to read several times for all the deeper meanings still very enjoyable.
It and The Killing Joke are the only two graphic novels I own. I don't know why but I haven't read it since I got it a while ago. I have read The Killing Joke though, and consider it extremely overrated.
Sandman is one of modern literatures greatest treasures and is a bona fide under appreciated work of uniquely inspired writing. Perhaps the greatest peice of intelligently researched and comprehensively formulated peice of creative writing to ever hit graphic novels. It's an absolutely unmissable series. Each to their own. 👍
CHEERS FOR INCLUDING PUNISHER MAX!!! never thought i'd ever see it mentioned in a top 10 comics list. never ever. everyone always goes for the basics (if incredible). Glad to see some love for it. Liking your video.
yeah but Garth Ennis with Hellblazer and Preacher demonstrated that he is one of the best comic writers of all time, and let me tell you Preacher always shows up in many top 10 lists in fact it is so good that after finishing volume 2 i gave a break as it is too good to be read through fast😂
My 10 (in this specific order) 1. The killing joke 2. Watchmen 3. Hush 4. The sandman 5. Lucifer 6. All star superman 7. The dark knight returns 8. V for vendetta 9. Promethea 10. Watchmen again. I think this order takes you on a journey through philosophy in comics. It is in this specific order to expose certain elements of the comics. For example I would read watchmen right after the killing joke to experience the nihilistic and existential themes throughout the two books. I think this first read through makes you focus more on Oz and Rorschach and their opposing philosophies. On the second reading after reading a bit about hermeticism in Promethea, understand the emotional vastness of powerful characters like superman, and understanding the relationship between creator and created in lucifer you can better understand Dr. Manhattan. I think watchmen allows you to take many different perspectives on the story and find something new in it each time.
I haven’t commented before, but I have to say this: This channel is freaking phenomenal. Not just saying this to kiss up or anything. Variant has quite literally made me the comic fan I am today. You guys have expanded my comic book knowledge beyond what I thought it would ever would be. History Of episodes and Top 10 lists have made the incredibly complex world of comics approachable and quite appealing. Variant, keep up the Lord’s work. Videos like this one make me excited for a new episode from this channel every week.
Jeez!!! This was some list. Several not-so-well-known comics, and all amazing. I'm sad I've already read them all, because it's obvious you do know a lot about comics and recommendations from you are worth checking out. Still, massive like to your video. Cheers.
I've never really thought any of the "Crisis" books were worth reading more than once. They're all mediocrely constructed stories to change continuity for editorial reasons. The stories aren't great in themselves.
Thank god many of us like Kingdom Come! Its my fav comicbook arc of all time. I would have to say this list could be different for so many people. Great video though 👍🏻
1. Watchmen 2. Dark Knight Returns 3. Lee/Kirby FF 4.Claremont X-Men from Giant Size X-Men to Outback 5. Peter David's Incredible Hulk 6.Robinson's Starman 7.Usagi Yojimbo 8. Ostrander Suicide Squad 9. Delano and Ennis Hellblazer 10. Sandman I guess The above aren't really in any order. It's brutal to make a top ten list because you have to leave stuff out that is just as valid of an option: Batman Year One, Kirby's Fourth World, Lee/Ditko Spider-man, Love and Rockets, Moore's Swamp Thing, Miller Daredevil, Waid's Flash, Astro City. There is so much great stuff out there.
I like your list. Apart from the comics in your list, I also like Green Lantern Blackest Night, Green Lantern Brightest Day, Justice League Forever Evil, DC Metal, Batman White Knight, Spiderman Spiderverse, Deadpool Kills the Marvel Universe, Spiderman/Deadpool
Caeden Goering Trust me, they are. While White Knight will completely change your perspective on the Joker and his relationship with Batman and Harley, DC Metal will throw light on the hard life led by Batman and how he is walking on a thread that separates sanity and insanity. Overall you will enjoy it and come out wanting more. I know I did.
Actually if you think about it Kravens Last Hunt is about Spider-Man by being about Kraven. By showing how Kraven acts in the costume and how brutal he is it shows a lot about Peters personality.
If this was a top 15 I’d recommend including Flashpoint, The Man Of Steel by John Byrne, the death of Superman, Kingdom Come , and one non-cape graphic novel, Maus. Seriously I don’t know why people don’t still talk about Maus, it’s incredible. My personal top 10 is 10. Flashpoint 9. Kingdom Come 8. Watchmen 7. The Marvels 6. Death of superman+ funeral for a friend+ reign of the supermen 5. Maus 4. The original Lee/Ditko Spider-Man issues+ AF15 3. Batman Year One 2. The Dark Knight Returns 1. All Star Superman, which is, in my opinion, the greatest thing ever written.
I have to go to the 60's, because that's where I started. Some of the Justice League issues were good silly fun. Then I jump to the 70's and Neal Adams run on Green Lantern/Green Arrow. For the 80's I pick Alan Moore, John Totlbene and Steve Bissette on Swampy. They gave us Constantine, after all. There is one issue I keep next to my recliner at all times. Hellblazer #49 from January 1992. Garth Ennis and Steve Dillon. One read and you'll understand.:)
I believe it was Warren Ellis who told me it was his favorite comic event, It is not mine but I do like it a lot, reading it just barely below surface level really helps to elevate it.
Honourable mentions: Kingdom Come, Sandman, Lucifer (Mike Carey), Maus, Year One, Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow, The Long Halloween, God Loves Man Kills, Crisis on Infinite Earths, Infinite Gauntlet, Extremis, Y The Last Man, DC The New Frontier, Civil War, Alan Moore's Swamp Thing, Grant Morrison's Doom Patrol, JLA Tower of Babel, Blackest Night. Definitely forgot a few though. I respect your opinion regarding Sandman, but I thought it to be a masterpiece. As well as Lucifer.
I would include the Secret Wars from the 80's, Marvel's Contest of Champions, the Punisher limited series (art by Mike Zeck), Wolverine limited series (art by Frank Miller), Death the 2 issue series by Neil Gaiman, the Tick (the original series), and the Crow (the original limited series)
I would have included the four-part Marvel vs DC from the mid 90's (minus the Amalgam universe outcome). A story that combined all the DC and Marvel characters into one universe is a comic book reader's dream. The only complaint is that it should have had a longer run and went much more in depth with other characters instead of just the major ones.
You really should have done a list of 20 instead of 10.... while this list is pretty spot on, I can’t even try to say that it’s not, there are still some you should have added in because they are also essentials. Some of those being death of Superman, civil war, infinity, one of the wolverine stories, from hell, plus you also gotta put in a spawn story for sure, lethal protector would also be a great one to put on the list(or just about anything about venom), and you can’t forget DP and even tho it’s newer the most recent carnage mini series is a must read for any comic/spidey fan. And I can easily list another 10-20 that ought to be on a must read list, because as you said there are so many fantastic comics out there, X-men fantastic 4, justice league, so on and so forth.... but a list of 50 is just too much. At the same time, 10 is too few..... 25 would be best I think. That way you could really get a good list made up of a great variety without leaving out very many essential must reads. Maybe do an updated video of a list of 25 in the near future....? Maybe???
My top 10 1. Silver surfer Requiem 2.Watchmen 3. Batman Dark knight returns 4. Batman Hush 5. Infinity Gauntlet 6. V for Vendetta 7.Batman Year One 8.300 9. Death of Superman 10. Batman the killing joke
I love The Boys and I legit think it's a very interesting take on the superhero genre but Ennis goes way too far with his criticisms and becomes repetitive. I mean it's still a great book but you can tell Ennis is self indulging his hate boner against capes in it.
The Boys was a good comic series as well, showing just because they save the day doesn't mean heroes aren't still assholes. The Boys are who is called when the good guys step out of line while showing how the supposed good guys aren't as clean as you may think they are. I highly recommend.
For me: The Death of The Stacys Kraven's Last Hunt Old Man Logan Watchmen Green Lantern/Green Arrow's 70's run Punisher: Born Punisher: Welcome Back Frank Preacher Whatever Happened to The Man of Tomorrow The Killing Joke
Out of what I’ve read I’d say 1. Dark Knight Returns 2. Court Of Owls 3. Spawn Origins Collection 4. Watchmen 5. Batwoman Elegy 6. Justice League VS Suicide Squad 7. Batman Hush 8. Ultimate Spider-Man: Venom 9. Ultimate X-Men: Cable 10. Punisher Year One
Nite Raine . Damn, that story went on forever, I think the extended story is 3 thick books. I am putting together an original run of the main story myself.
I see a lot of very good recommendations, so I'm just inserting some that I didn't see in the comments(or I just missed them): Saga of the Swamp Thing 100 Bullets Fables(you may die without reading this one, but still it's very enjoyable)
Just an aside, if you love Captain America, check out John Byrne and Roger Stern's run in the 1980s. You don't need to know too much contextually as it pretty much set a new status quo for Steve Rogers and Cap. It's a spectacular, fun, surprisingly deep set of stories and is considered the peak of the old Captain America comics outside of his more well known series. It's a personal favourite of mine, and it ended far too soon, only being around 9 or 10 issues long. Oh yeah, it also contains the best and most succinct retelling of Cap's origin story ever told.
My ten (not in any certain order): 1. The Death of Superman 2. KnightFall; Part 1-3 3. The Dark Knight Returns 4. Batman The Killing Joke 5. Kingdom Come 6. Flashpoint 7. Flash Rebirth 8. Civil War 9. Batman Hush 10. Batman Year One
I love the rest of your list but I've never understood people's passion for Death of Supes or Knighfall. I don't think either is very good beyond the shock factor. I own copies of both but I've never felt the urge to re-read either.
Those two are amazing to me. Death of Superman was a story that prove that even that Superman is invicible it also proves that he even can die and he was stopped by a rampaging mindless monster who everybody before him tried to stop him and failed. He give his life to stop Doomsday and to save all of Metropolis. KnightFall was a story about new villain Bane who tested Batman passed the breaking points of physical and mental abilities. He released all of Batman's villains from Arkham; Batman went after them all and almost died in the process. He was the first villain in Batman's rogue's gallery to find out his secret identity, to defeat him, and literally "break the bat". That's the reason why these two are so important to me; they prove that are heroes are not gods, but that they can come back and be stronger then ever!
1- Wanted by Mark Millar 2- Old Man Logan by Frank Miller 3- Jupiter's Legacy by Mark Millar 4- Nemesis by Mark Millar 5- The Dark Knight 3: The Master Race by Frank Miller 6- Metal: Dark Nights by Scott Synder 7- Death of the Family by Scott Synder 8- Endgame by Scott Synder 9- Wonder Woman Earth 1 by Grant Morrison 10- Batman Inc. by Grant Morrison H.M.- Superior by Mark Millar, Joker by Brain something (my bad can't think of last name😶), Green Latern Darkest Night by Johns, TDW run with TMNT
Such a great list and THANK YOU so much for adding the Garth Ennis Max Punisher run. I felt it was so under appreciated. I would have added another from Garth’s The Preacher series and Batman Year One.
Lucas Ownes19 Nah you’re not the only one. Most popular Batman books seem to be overrated. The Killing Joke, TDKR, Under the Hood, Year One and even The Long Halloween (which I personally love, but it’s still overrated. Haunted Knight is a much better book imo). Prey is a book I hear people love, but I personally hated it.
way to much information about the stories! fortunately I've read almost all. I'd say that you ruined the watchmen for any unfortunate that hasn't read it.
1. Civil War 2. Batman year one 3. Batgirl year one 4. Gotham by Gaslight 5. Captain America the Death of Captain America 6. Captain America Reborn 7. DC the new frontier 8. Superman Red Son 9. Masks( published by Dynamite its a pulp style adventure that teams up The Shadow the Green Hornet & Kato the Spider the Black Bat Zorro and others) 10. Spider man the death of Jean DeWolfe honorable. Mention. The Rocketeer
I really enjoyed Miles Morales’ Ultimate Spider-Man run written by Bendis and art by David Marquez. An absolute favorite of mine Deadpool kills the Marvel Universe Avengers v Xmen Deadpool: Secret Invasion
TheJokerBryan year one is a better batman book but imo the dark knight is a better story. They're both amazing stores but I wouldn't reccamond the dark knight for someone's first batman book
Stephen Veerasammy I respectful disagree. The Dark Knight does get way too much, it definitely isn't the be all, end all of batman books but it's up there and I think it is better than civil war which is great
Kai Lovlin the DKR was one of my first reads but I found I was getting confused too much because the pannelling, it was hard to follow the diologue because the reporters were talking a fair bit, it was enough to throw off a noob. But the mutant leader gang seemed like an awful villian because he was just a buff guy weaker than any of batman real villians who can fight. I know this is all my opinion, sorry if I come off as a poopy, negative hater. But I think Hush and under the red hood were better batman stories.
I loved The Man Without Fear too! I have all the issues, I'm still waiting to get it signed by Frank himself...it was also the first set of comics I ever received!
