Help a renewed fan get back into comic ! !

[Zerostatic]

Guys, I used to be a diehard comic book head back in highschool, but when I went off to college it really became too difficult for me to keep collecting due to not being able to have a car on campus and the fact that it simply cost too much (I used to spend 100+ a month easily) The only book that I kept on reading was Spawn, cuz Spawn was the comic book that got me into the whole hobby (btw, the book has turned it around big time, it's increased quality plus the excellent S&T: Case Files are the reasons I want to get back into the whole comic thing).

Anyways, I want to get back into the hobby but I set myself a 15 book limit, and I already read Spawn and Sam & Twitch: Case Files, so that leaves me with 13 books, I'm going to get most of those 13 from DC and Marvel but I want to diversify my reading so . . . .

What 2 or 3 ABC/Wildstorm books would you reccomend to someone who wants to get the flavor of what ABC/Wildstorm is all about.

[Forsaken_One]

Sleeper season 1 trade paperbacks (2 tpb I believe), Ex Machina (1 trade, plus singles), and Planetary (many trades, not sure of the number, plus singles). Some people might say Authority or Promethia, and I'm sure they will, but those're my three.

Edit: I'd also recomend various comics from Vertigo. Sandman, Transmetropoliton, and Preacher (all finished and fully in trade), Fables, Y - The Last Man, 100 Bullets, and so on.

[Zerostatic]

I'm more into ongoing series

[aelio]

Well, its too bad that you have missed most of Sleeper and The Authority: Revolution. You should check out planetary. It is ongoing (quarterly) but you will likely need to trades as it is a continuous story.

[FunkyGreenJerusalem]

The Intimates has potential.

(There's a heap more I would reccomend, but Wildstorm/ABC don't have too many ongoings at the moment. Around 2000 until this year it had plenty of top quality stuff though).

Sleeper is about to have a second series, so I would defenetly reccomend getting the first two trades.
They are pretty cheap, and are a damn good read.

[Forsaken_One]

My question is what "ongoing" means. Ex Machina's on comic 9 or so and BKV plans on bringing it up to 50 last I heard. That's not ongoing in the sense of "never ends" but it will continue for almost three and one half years from now. That's a damn good run but it's not really ongoing. Then again I'd argue that limited runs like that are better than ongoing in that they tend to have consistant creators and have a complete story to tell, something you can't do with a neverending comic like, say, Robin. The Robin comic will have ups and downs but until it's sales flag it'll never be over and Robin will never retire and have his story end like Snow from Planetary will. The best stuff's been creator-focused limited series I think. Watchmen, Sandman. Transmetropoliton, hell Doom Patrol (Morrison) to an extent, Preacher, Planetary, Astro City, Top 10, and so on. All limited runs, all great. You might hear wonderful things about certain arcs of an ongoing but when was the last time you heard "Man, every issue of X-Men for the last five years kicks ass, regardless of who writes it and who draws it!" typed or spoken anywhere?

For that matter, what about comics that are canceled without having time to end? The latest "ongoing" title might not make it and be killed after twenty issues, in which case Ex Machina would have been more "ongoing" than it. If you're going to use that standard only the h00j mainstream comics would work, comics like Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman (they can't not print it after all), Spider-Man, and so on would fit. Anything below that has the chance of being cancelled, however slim it may be.

[Ugoff]

I'm more into ongoing series

I'm not sure what you mean by this statement either. There are a ton of mini-series out there that are definitely worth checking out. The B.P.R.D. minis are always good. Reload is another mini series from a few months ago that was really interesting. I would recommend you pick of back issues of WILDC.A.Ts, check out Sleeper(havent read a single issue, but i'm sure it's hella good, oooh! I hope I can add this to my pick up list soon). Damn I'm broke. OK moving on... I also recommed you check out a comic called Hard Time. One of the best comics of 05. Y-The Last Man, the Walking Dead, and Ex Machina are all must reads. Supreme Power, Runaways, and Ultimates are the only things that spring to mind right now that interest me from Marvel. Also I'm really enjoying DEFEX, a neat comic from Aftermath Comics. Breach is a really interesting DC title that comes out monthly, issues 1 throught 3 area available now. WE3 was an awesome 3 issue mini from DC/Vertigo, that came out not to long ago. See if you can pick up the Trade paperback. Razor's Edge:Warblade is another mini series( I know they cancelled Razor's Edge:Redbird, but does that mean they cancelled the whole Razor's Edge title?) Ok sorry for the long rant. How long has it been since you stopped reading comics(except for Spawn)?

OK let's see, so the 13 titles I think you should check out
The ones with TPB mean that they have a trade paperback or more out right now. And from what I understand it's cheaper to buy the trades. Also Zerostatic you wont have to wait months on end for the next issue. Also after a mini series is down you can move on and place something else in it's slot on your pick up list.
Sleeper TPB
WILDC.A.Ts TPB
Runaways TPB
Ultimates TPB
Supreme Power TPB
DEFEX
WE3 TPB
Ex Machina TPN
Walking Dead TPB
Y-The Last Man TPB
Breach
the Witching (it's been cancelled, so you only have ten issue to search for)
Manhunter

Honorable mentions
Ocean DC/WS mini series
Vimanarama DC/Vertigo mini
Majestic DC monthly series
Catwoman DC monthly
Necrowar mini(might be tough to find, i'm not sure, it's like 9 months old)
Firestorm DC monthly
Two Step I think DC/Vertigo mini series
The Human Race DC mini
Other World DC mini
Mnemovore mini series
Kinetic cancelled
Touch cancelled
Fraction cancelled
Fantastic Four Marvel monthly series
Marvel Knights 4 Marvel monthly (in danger of cancellation)
Crossgen titles are also worth a look althought that company went under & is no more

[stealthwise]

I'd also suggest getting some good TPBs, rather than ongoing's right now. If you can afford 15 titles a month, then you surely scrap a few of those in order to buy a trade or two every month. Trust me, grab stuff like the old Starman trades, or maybe Vertigo like Sandman, Preacher, etc (check the Vertigo boards for the huge list in its own thread).

Or get the Top Ten trades from the ABC line.

[Tobias March]

Yes, good trades to pick up: Top Ten; Tom Strong; Planetary (whichever volume, most of the stories are nicely self-contained); first two volumes of Authority....ok, I'm out.

As for ongoing I'm not so sure, picking up Planetary currently myself. Anyone recommend anything else current that's coming out more regularly?

[PanzerMega]

Seriously, cut your comic list down to five new titles, and pick up some TPBs of older work. That way if you like it, you can get a start on the creator's NEXT series, from the beginning.

I highly recommend getting the first Preacher, Y The Last Man, Ex Machina, Authority, Transmetropolitan, Planetary, and Walking Dead TPBs.

Hell, pick up the new Vertigo TPB for FIVE BUCKS, that collects a bunch of their number one issues.

[FunkyGreenJerusalem]

And you should buy the ORIGINALS HardCover.

costs a few bucks, but it's the best looking thing on the market right now.