Overlooked Comics

[Gail Simone]

If you would, name a comic you feel isn't getting the attention and sales it deserves (none of mine, please, we're doing fine), and why you like it.

Conducting a little experiment.

[TCJohnson]

If it wasn't cancelled last month I would've said Gambit. Now, I really don't like the character Gambit at all. But I really enjoyed this book. The book was mostly fun, silly crime stories. Hijinks of a thief getting himself into trouble and getting himself out of trouble. Had a lot of potential, but most people wouldn't give it the time of day because it was Gambit. Shame.

[David O Burcham]

New Thunderbolts and Marvel Team-Up

And I'm hoping more people will buy She-Hulk when it returns in October.

I get depressed whenever I pick up a current Marvel book and thumb through it. These two/three books (and the upcoming Defenders mini) keep my love for classic Marvel heroes and villians alive.

[The Mirrorball Man]

Y the Last Man, definitely. It's constantly fresh, funny, innovative and sometimes mind-blowing.

[Andrew345]

Two comics I like which aren't getting enough readers are Gotham Central and Manhunter. I was able to track down all of the issues of Manhunter and havent been dissapointed yet. It just has suberb writing and characters. As for Gotham Central I read the first two TPBs and really enjoyed them and just hopped on to the latest issue last month.

[angryrican]

I only read these books in trade format, but I really love Invincible and The Walking Dead from Image.

[Static-Pulse]

Livewires, by Adam Warren. Why do I like it? The story, first off, is fun; if it's not an original plot, then it sure is a quirky one, diving through the history of technology in the Marvel U. The characters, secondly, are great, vibrant, and quirky. Third, the art is sweet, and it fits the story perfectly; if you're going to tell a story about nano-form combat mecha, you need that manga touch.

The Intimates, by Joe Casey. What's not to like about this? It's got a story, it's got juxtaposed narration by way of infoblurbs, it's makes use of the visual medium of comics to express throughts better than words can (e.g., Impulse), but no one reads it. Its characters have chemistry, characterization, and wreak of cool, but no one is reading it.

Majestic, by... I'd have to look. This has wonderful art. Galaxy- and Universe-spanning stories. Alien invasions. Alien conspiracies. It has Majestros! The guy who is to Superman what the dance remix is to Lara Fabian's "I Will Love Again" is to the original version. There's no part of this book that's not to like.

Batgirl, by Andersen Gabrych. It has Cassandra Cain! You need more to like? It has her living in Blüdhaven now. It has a little community of friends and family being built up around her. It's pitting her against the Penguin. It finally has Cassie learning to read. It has Pop Mhan drawing! Even before him, the lines and art were gorgeous to look at.

These are my favorite books these days, and if you look at the sales charts all of them are going down... If you listen to Internet buzz, you won't hear anyone talking about them...

[the4thpip]

True Story, Swear To God
Kurt Busiek wrote a beautiful preface to the second trade paperback that really expressed what makes this book so special.

[angryrican]

[QUOTE=Static-Pulse]
It has Majestros! The guy who is to Superman what the dance remix is to Lara Fabian's "I Will Love Again" is to the original version.
QUOTE]

Great stuff...

[Kevinroc]

Invincible and Ex Machina. Along with previously mentioned titles like Marvel Team-Up and She-Hulk.

[Tim Agen]

Gail, what about this old experiment (http://forums.comicbookresources.com/showthread.php?t=2378&page=3&pp=15)?

Overlooked comics: The Hester and Huddleston team-ups of The Coffin (Oni Press) and Deep Sleeper (Image). I think they're great because of their wild ideas, art and heart. I wish them better sales so that the team can make more books in the future.

[Drumore]

Repeating Andrew's choices: Gotham Central and Manhunter!

[TCJohnson]

I thought Team-Up was doing pretty well?

[Bryan Rios]

Definitely Y: The Last Man. Mostly for the same reasons given by Mirrorball Man.

[muimi]

Thumbs up for Batgirl, Gotham Central, The Intimates and Plastic Man. They're all great: Batgirl and Gotham Central have some great writing and I love Ale Garza's art on Batgirl. The Intimates and Plastic Man are just plain fun.

[Kevinroc]

I thought Team-Up was doing pretty well?

84. MARVEL TEAM-UP
Nov 04 Marvel Team-Up #1 - 44,530
Nov 04 Marvel Team-Up #2 - 37,515 (-15.7%)
Dec 04 Marvel Team-Up #3 - 29,085 (-22.5%)
Jan 05 Marvel Team-Up #4 - 27,216 ( -6.4%)
Feb 05 Marvel Team-Up #5 - 28,141 ( +3.4%)
Mar 05 Marvel Team-Up #6 - 24,762 (-12.0%)
Apr 05 Marvel Team-Up #7 - 24,800 ( +0.2%)
May 05 Marvel Team-Up #8 - 24,270 ( -2.1%)
6 mnth (-35.3%)

Apparently levelling out in the 24K region, which is interesting considering the early drops. Upcoming solicitations refer to the book having a second year, which comes as something of a surprise in light of its early performance.

Source: http://www.comicon.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic&f=36&t=003943

24k isn't where I think the title should be. Tom Brevoort said the series will be published until at least #18 but who knows after that.

[Corrina]

I pulled this from an article I did for Sequential Tart this month (Tarties: The Mostly Superhero Edition--www.sequentialtart.com)

They're independent comics--but they're genre work--not literary fiction or slice of life stuff:


Best Comic That Needs a Wider Audience
1st Place — Nocturnal Essence from Powerful Press — An indy comic that combines the supernatural noir with Arthurian myth, set in urban Chicago, this comic is fresh and fascinating. Some really great dialogue, especially from the bad guy, and I just love the mobsters using vampires as protection.
www.powerfulpress.com

2nd Place — Children of the Grave, from Shooting Star Comics — Three special operations soldiers, on a remote mission in a foreign country, find themselves in the middle of a very scary ghost story. The writer, unlike Mr. Wright, is an actual veteran.
www.shootingstarcomics.com

Shooting Star Comics also put out another one-shot that I liked, Nick Landmine Versus the World Crime League. Because I think there cannot be enough fun comics out there. <g>

[Kahnno6]

I've got to jump on the Batgirl bandwagon. I enjoy it every month. It's well written and fun. I think I could say the same thing about Runaways as well, but I don't know what the sales figures are for either of the books to be honest.

[GremlinClr]

I'll third Manhunter. Such a good book.

[Bored at 3:00AM]

I don't know how overlooked these books are, but I just discovered Runaways and have been enjoying it a lot. Same thing happened with The Losers, which just kicks so much ass. Andy Diggle rocks.

And, if anyone gets the chance to pick up old issues of the now cancelled H*E*R*O, please do. I doubt you'll be disappointed.

[Dreadstar]

Oddly Normal.

Small indie 4 issue limited. And fun.

P.S. 238 is a blast, too.

[michelet]

Gotham Central, Gotham Central, and Gotham Central.

Invincible seems to be getting a real push from Image, and I think has a movie in the works, so much as I love it I can't call it overlooked.

[TCJohnson]

84. MARVEL TEAM-UP
Nov 04 Marvel Team-Up #1 - 44,530
Nov 04 Marvel Team-Up #2 - 37,515 (-15.7%)
Dec 04 Marvel Team-Up #3 - 29,085 (-22.5%)
Jan 05 Marvel Team-Up #4 - 27,216 ( -6.4%)
Feb 05 Marvel Team-Up #5 - 28,141 ( +3.4%)
Mar 05 Marvel Team-Up #6 - 24,762 (-12.0%)
Apr 05 Marvel Team-Up #7 - 24,800 ( +0.2%)
May 05 Marvel Team-Up #8 - 24,270 ( -2.1%)
6 mnth (-35.3%)

Apparently levelling out in the 24K region, which is interesting considering the early drops. Upcoming solicitations refer to the book having a second year, which comes as something of a surprise in light of its early performance.

Source: http://www.comicon.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic&f=36&t=003943

24k isn't where I think the title should be. Tom Brevoort said the series will be published until at least #18 but who knows after that.

Could be better but I know several comics that are lower and still keep going.

And while it is not being over look, one of my pet peeves now is somebody telling me that they won't try Young Avengers because it is nothing but a Teen Titans rip off. That really grabs my gopher!

[Kevinroc]

Could be better but I know several comics that are lower and still keep going.

And while it is not being over look, one of my pet peeves now is somebody telling me that they won't try Young Avengers because it is nothing but a Teen Titans rip off. That really grabs my gopher!

I wouldn't say MTU is doing "well" but I do think it could easily be called an "overlooked" comic.

Young Avengers is doing well, it would seem. And despite the "it's a Teen Titans rip" label, it's actually a really good comic that does seem to be selling. Good for YA as the title deserves it.

[Kyuubi]

I heard a lot of people saying that they didn't even know that Spawn was still being made when the news of the new creative team was announced. I've been reading it since issue 83 and still find it entertaining, but it has been pretty slow. If anyone was a fan of the comic before, I think you should definitely check it out again when the new creative team starts.

I don't know if many of you are manga fans, but for those that are, I would recommend Trigun: Maximum. It's my favorite Action/Comedy/Drama/Sci-Fi manga out now.

[Gaz]

I've got to jump on the Batgirl bandwagon. I enjoy it every month. It's well written and fun. I think I could say the same thing about Runaways as well, but I don't know what the sales figures are for either of the books to be honest.
Batgirl's less exposed than it should be, as it's better than all the core Bat-titles, but it's doing fine by DC standards, which allow for lower sales.
Runaways is doing better than it WAS, but it's still around the low-to-mid 20k mark.

[Phil Hester]

Gail, what about this old experiment (http://forums.comicbookresources.com/showthread.php?t=2378&page=3&pp=15)?

Overlooked comics: The Hester and Huddleston team-ups of The Coffin (Oni Press) and Deep Sleeper (Image). I think they're great because of their wild ideas, art and heart. I wish them better sales so that the team can make more books in the future.

Tim, you are wise. Our monthly sales always disappoint, but we do okay with trades and movie options. Well enough that our next project- Deathless- is already in the planning stage. Thanks.

[Briareos]

Breach: A intriguing story that had some very interesting choices for characters such as a hero thats protrayed as nigh indistructable and when's the last time you saw a tribal african type character portrayed as a villian.

Amazing Fantasy: The current scorpion arc is alot of fun. I'd love to see more of this character but of course I know I won't because there's that new Arana character thats set the world on fire (Also has any character had this many strikes against her for her debut 1. She debuts as issue #7 of a generic sounding title after the writer who was to write her left and took her ideas with her since marvel didn't bother to write in the contract the standard "Anything you think of reguarding this character we own" line. So now you have everyone thinking that this is the lesser idea being pushed instead of this mythicaly brilliant story that never got published)

*inhales*

ok now then...

Jadefire: Interesting asian fantasy themed book that sank like a stone thanks to the horrible environment it is for new publishers right now.

[Calamas]

Both Grimjack and Jon Sable are back and no one seemed to notice. Sable is the usual Mike Grell stuff, which is still above average; but Grimjack--except for the slow start in the first issue--has been spectacular. Few can equal Ostrander when he's allowed to cut loose.

[Justin D.]

Here's a currently published hidden gem.

http://www.dccomics.com/media/covers/2973_400x600.jpg
Breach by Bob Harras and Marcos Martin put out by DC. It's like an indie superhero book that takes place in the mainstream DCU. The picture above is of the fifth issue's cover. http://www.dccomics.com/media/covers/3854_400x600.jpg
That is a picture of next week's issue of Breach.

Check out Martin's art from a Batgirl annual at the bottom of this page. (http://www.scottbeatty.com/batgirlmarcosinterview.html) Looks like what Adrian Tomine and Mike Parobeck's child would create if he drew a superhero book for DC. I think it's moved so far past the Captain Atom revamp idea it originally was that no one shold have any apprehensions about picking it up. Great depth of characters, mysteries, interesting science fiction angle, and handling of multiple plots. It's currently one of my favorite books. However, last time I looked, I saw that it's doing poorly in sales. People buy this book, or at least try it out, to prevent it from disappearing. Well, it'd be nice if it disappeared off the shelves because people are buying it.

This is basically what I said in a thread on the Community board where I asked people about hidden comic gems. (http://forums.comicbookresources.com/showthread.php?t=57592)

[chicainery]

Spider-girl is a fine book that doesn't, in my opinion, get the sales it deserves.

[the4thpip]

Spider-girl is a fine book that doesn't, in my opinion, get the sales it deserves.
I agree. But I hear the digests are doing really well.

[The Mirrorball Man]

The Ed Brubaker run on Catwoman has ended, but it's collected in TPBs, and I don't think most people have realized how brillant it was. The story "No Easy Way Down", collected in the "Relentless" TPB, is the most touching comic book story I've read in years.

[Lunar Daydreamer]

Breach is fabulous. If i'd read it blind i'd swear it was Grant Morrison, not Bob Harras. Gorgeous and very unsual art, cool story unfolding, i'm hooked. :)

[Lunar Daydreamer]

Likewise whilst Walking Dead is doing well well for an Image title, with it's sales (along with Invicible, which I hope to experience with next week's Hardcover) going up and up month in, month out ... it'd be great if it could crack the top 50 and keep on climbing. A quality book selling on good word of mouth and hitting such heights would be fabulous. :)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Whilst i'm on at the Indy side of things, Jamie Smart's Bear is absolutely outstanding. Loads packed into each issue, genuinely funny - a genuine treat each and every time it hits the stands.

I'm still giggling about a gag in the last issue, where Looshkin the cat brings home a dead ram.

Bear: "What the hell are you planning on doing with that?!"

Looshkin: "Well, I was going to ride it down the stairs like a sledge."

:D

[Rik]

F.E.M.Force, from AC Comics.

AC gets a bad rap as "soft porn" comics, but aside from the publisher's liking for (ahem) well-endowed women, there's absolutely nothing like that going on. In fact, the books could easily be Silver Age comics. Artwork is erratic, ranging from outstanding to amateurish, (mostly because the company's sales are low and they can't afford to pay much), but the characters are likeable, strong, intelligent female role models, and the stories are consistently well-written and FUN, something that is lacking in many mainstream titles.

And it's the only indie I know of that's still around since 1982.

[Gaz]

The Ed Brubaker run on Catwoman has ended, but it's collected in TPBs, and I don't think most people have realized how brillant it was. The story "No Easy Way Down", collected in the "Relentless" TPB, is the most touching comic book story I've read in years.
That's the one where Karon finds the vicodin, or whatever, in Holly's pockets, counts it out but doesn't tell her she found it? That part had me near tears... :(

[Joe Rice]

Amazing Joy Buzzards. There's no comic that packs more fun into a smaller space.

[SUPERECWFAN1]

JLA:Classified 4#-9#: " I Can't Believe Its Not the Justice League ". Hilarity ensues when the Super Buddies members go to Hell and Guy Gardner shows up.




The Great Lakes Avengers: 1#-4# : Dan Slott brings the GLA thru some personal hell and recruits new members. It even has SQUIRREL GIRL !! :D



Blood of the Demon : Who woulda thought John Bryne would put out 2 monthly books I enjoy ? Its shocking. But thus far " Blood of the Demon" kicks ass. I suggest It for all you who wanna see ass kicking gore & bloodshed.


Firestorm: Jason Rusch has gotten a bad rap by some fans who are angry over Ronnie Raymond. But since last year Rusch has grew Into the New Firestorm and with a new creative team aboard Its starting to build a whole new era ! Pick It up guys !

[Screwtape]

Dunno about ongoings, but "My Faith in Frankie" was a great one-off and Mike Carey is a terrific GN writier.

[steeler80]

I'll second (third, fourth, whatever) Manhunter and Gotham Central. And if it comes back with IDW in the fall, I'd give a big push for Fallen Angel. I think it had some of the consistently best writing in comics.

[Justin D.]

Breach is fabulous. If i'd read it blind i'd swear it was Grant Morrison, not Bob Harras. Gorgeous and very unsual art, cool story unfolding, i'm hooked. :)

I think a lot of people avoided this book because of some bias against Harras. Having not read much, or any, of his stuff in the past, I didn't have that bias. Breach reads like a lot of science fiction books I read with the multiple angles on multiple characters and the bordering edge of science.

[The Mirrorball Man]

That's the one where Karon finds the vicodin, or whatever, in Holly's pockets, counts it out but doesn't tell her she found it? That part had me near tears... :(
That's the one, aka "The one where they all get very depressed".

[Corrina]

But isn't that also the one with the sex, too?

:)

[Gaz]

But isn't that also the one with the sex, too?

:)
Yes, but it's bitter, depressed sex.

[The Xenos]

Wow. Why ahve I already seen a TON of comics I like. Guess I have the taste for the good yet unpopular.

Gotham Central. Breach. Manhunter. Livewires. Intamates. Y the Last Man and Ex Machna are over looked?! How..?! WHY?!

Ooo.. here's one I don't think anyone mentioned.

Rex Mundi. - Imagine the Davinci Code, but not crap and they don't drag poor DaVinci into a stupid conpsiracy. Plus this one is set in an interesting alternate history.

Of course, Peter David's Fallen Angel at DC was good, but it got canned. Now I hear IDW is picking it up.

-Xenos

[TomGun13]

I only read these books in trade format, but I really love Invincible and The Walking Dead from Image.

I am in agreement!

[The Mirrorball Man]

If we're talking about overlooked comics, I think Scott McCloud's Morning Improv (http://www.scottmccloud.com/comics/mi/mi-archive.html) deserves to be mentioned.

[KingMixer]

Hell yeah!

[SuperGodGinrai]

Most overlooked comics are the ones not at eye level on displays :D

[Hound]

I'm not sure how overlooked comics like Y, Fables, Ex Machina and Invincible are within the comics community; I think most comics fans that would be interested in them are already reading them. These titles are constantly talked about on just about every comics board, and are always mentioned alongside words like "innovative," "best book on the market," "award-winning" and "Eisner nominated." However, I do think that many non fans would also love these books should they ever give them a try.

For titles that mainstream fandom aren't paying enough attention to, right near the top of my list would be Hawkman, Manhunter, Gotham Central and Cable/Deadpool. All are excellent books, and are backed by a loyal (and vocal) following, but the sales numbers on them are dissapointing, especially when compared to books I perceive to be of much lower quality.

Hawkman probably suffered from having a big name like Geoff Johns leave. Though Jimmy Palmiotti and Justin Gray have a core of rabid followers, they don't have the name power of a Geoff Johns. On top of that, their current arc built very slowly, and I think people were impatient and lost interest; unfortunate, since I think it has really picked up steam of late, and it is one of the books I most look forward to. I can't wait to see where their story goes.

Manhunter suffered from being a new character dumped into a solo book with no backstory, and a relatively unknown writer...Mark Andreyko has done amazing things so far though, and the art has been fantastic. Fortunately, people finally seem to be noticing this book.

Gotham Central is just one of the most solid books I've ever gotten. Quality work month in a month out, with some arcs that have instantly become some of the best all-time in any comic for me. Half-a-Life, Soft Targets, and Unresolved were all standouts. This book would have benefitted from a faster trade collection policy; the lack of trades hurts this title more than almost any other. The artwork (first by Michael Lark, and later by Stefano Gaudiano, Kano and others) wasn't my cup of tea at first blush, but really grows on you and is perfectly suited for the story and the atmosphere of the book.

Cable/Deadpool is just plain funny, and Nicieza is hilarious. Patrick Zircher's pencils have been a treat, and this book is one of the few Marvel titles I just love. It, along with the now-defunct-soon-returning She-Hulk, puts the fun back in comics.