After Sandman, what?

[new_onslaught]

Hi, I'm about to read the last volumes of Sandman and was wondering which Vertigo title to start reading after that. So far from Vertigo I've read Fables up to vol.16, Sandman, Death: The High Cost of Living and Death: The Time of Your Life. I've checked what other titles there are in Vertigo's stable and I found the concepts of Y: The Last Man, Ex Machina, Lucifer and American Vampire to be interesting. Of those which is closer to Sandman, not in theme and tone, but in quality. To say it differently, Sandman offered me a depth, most comics don't have. Which of these Vertigo titles is more likely to have a similar effect? In addition how good are The Chill, The Witching Hour, Kill Your Boyfriend and Pride Of Baghdad? Thanks in advance!

[Superdog]

If you haven't read it, Swamp Thing is worth reading. Swamp Thing and Sandman tie into each other in interesting ways. Then of course, Hellblazer spins out of Swamp Thing. There's a sort of synergy to all three.

[new_onslaught]

I'm planning to read Swamp Thing, just not right now, as for Hellblazer, what's holding me from checking it out it's the big number of volumes. Right now I'd like something shorter, like the titles above, which consist of 10 volumes tops. But thanks for the advices. For anyone else wanting to help me out, the monthlies that I like this period are Batman, Animal Man, Swamp Thing, Birds of Prey, Earth-2, X-Factor and Daredevil.

[MartinNL]

I've got the first 2 Sandman absolutes sitting on my shelf waiting to be read, so I can't comment on the comparability between Sandman and the titles you listed. However, beside Lucifer (which I haven't read) all 3 titles listed are some of the best books I have read/ or am reading. The BKV titles are masterpieces imo. They are both grounded in reality, though they are sf stories. Both titles have some politics, some action stuff, and are adventurous. Seriously, you can't go wrong with either Y or Ex-Machina.

American Vampire is another one of my favourites, so much so that I collect them in floppies, because I can't wait, and also in hardcovers. American Vampire is a real nail biter. You constantly want to know what happens next. Much like Snyder's Swamp Thing and Batman. These vampires are actually scary, but the book is as much about horror as it is about character development. You can't help but root for Skinner, who is seriously badass. And Pearl's stories are more emotional. Also American Vampire gets better all the time. So far the third book is my favourite out of the three. Each arc is set in a different time and/or location around the world, which adds a lot to the world building. Besides the different time periods, you also don't just follow Pearl and Skinner, but also the Vassals of the Morning Star (in the miniseries). So yeah Snyder's stories carry a lot of depth and don't even get me started on the art. Rafael Albuquerque is a genius! You can see his art getting better and better over time. And then on the first mini-series is Sean Murphy and the second mini-series (starts in June) will be Dustin Nguyen.

Why don't you pick up the first collection of all these 4 books and decide which ones you (really) like the best and go from there?

[Desaad]

Okay.

The closest in terms of tone that you are going to get are going to be Alan Moore's Swamp Thing and Mike Carey's Lucifer. There is a lot of connective tissue there, both in terms of story elements and in terms of direction. Nothing you read is going to be as literary as Sandman, because that was a story ABOUT stories. You won't get the same kind of overt focus on Shakespeare or writing in general, what have you. But if you're looking for interesting takes on human nature, seen through a lense of magic, both Swamp Thing and Lucifer are right up your alley, and they are both of astounding quality.

This same 'era' of comics was when Grant Morrison was making his 'bones' in the world; if you are liking the current Animal Man series, you would be remiss not to pick up the Grant Morrison run on the title, which is easily found in TPB form, and is just 26 issues (so maybe 4 volumes? I don't know for sure).

Now Morrison's best series was Doom Patrol, for my money, also a Vertigo title, also weirdly brilliant, very long form. You should definitely think about picking that book up, if you have a chance; strange, intellectual, heartfelt. A book that combined old german fairy tales with dadaism with anarchism with comic book critique. Really excellent. Again, my favorite series done with a mainstream character ever.

Y the Last Man and Ex Machina are both great pieces of work, but they are a different sort of great. The work Brian K Vaughn did here with character and mood and plot was all excellent. But it was, for the most part, straightforward. I mean sure the whole set ups with broadly allegorical, but you didn't have the kind of layered meaning, wild creativity, and philosophical ponderings you got in any of the books I mention above. You'll be steeped in the fullness of the world and the clarity of the characters, but I don't feel it has the depth or the raw daring of any of the books I mention above.

American Vampire is more in the mold of Y the Last Man and Ex Machina. Again, there are some broad allegorical bits, the settings tend to be very reflective of the conflicts, that sort of thing, but for the most part it's just really excellent characters in a cool mythology and great period pieces. A little bit of the period feel of a mad men or band of brothers, really...but with vampires.

[Ian Pressman]

If you're still on a 'stories as another universe' kick after reading Sandman, then read Lucifer and Unwritten.

[Cowtools]

If you enjoy e way Sandman plays with traditional literary and fairytale tropes and archetypes, then you should give Fables a try.

[new_onslaught]

Thanks guys! Right now I'm concidering to buy the first volumes of Lucifer, Y: The Last Man and American Vampire and pick one of them and then get the rest of it. But at some point I want to get Swamp Thing and Doom Patrol. The Invisibles, how good is this title? Also, The Chill, The Witching Hour, Kill Your Boyfriend and Pride Of Baghdad are they worth buying?

[DOVETAILS]

I would like to recommend shade the changing man. Filled to the brim with imagination... Rac Shade is the coolest depressed alien poet you could ever hope to meet and you'll never guess what's next, and what follows that and so on and so forth. Kind of hard to find outside of ebay or what not, but worth it.
Also instead of kill your boyfriend or pride of baghdad I would say... WE3 for my buck? And maybe check out the cheap Concrete trades from dark horse instead of Y the last man or something! Though don't get me wrong, I love me some Y.

[NCatron]

Thanks guys! Right now I'm concidering to buy the first volumes of Lucifer, Y: The Last Man and American Vampire and pick one of them and then get the rest of it. But at some point I want to get Swamp Thing and Doom Patrol. The Invisibles, how good is this title? Also, The Chill, The Witching Hour, Kill Your Boyfriend and Pride Of Baghdad are they worth buying?

One other has mentioned it, but I want to call out Unwritten. It's grounded in literature, it's mature not by being "dark" by virtue of violence or gore, rather by the depth of its themes. I'd say in spirit it's close to Sandman. And it's currently ongoing with 5 volumes out so far.

If you like post-apocalyptic, Sweet Tooth is also ongoing and will end up at around 6-7 total volumes. Mind blowing art, written & drawn by one gentleman.

I like almost everything vertigo but didn't love Invisibles.

[groovemachine]

You should also consider Kieron Gillen's run on Journey Into Mystery. You don't have to read any other Marvel books for this to make sense...it stands on it's own and is really great. You can never predict where an issue will go. There are two volumes out so far and a third coming in July.

Kieron Gillen tells us how Journey Into Mystery is basically Sandman. A bit.

[Adset]

i'd jump into lucifer, personally. it's a natural companion to sandman, and it's fan-o-tatstic.

[new_onslaught]

By the way, is there gonna be a remastered version of The Sandman: Endless Nights, like the volumes 1-10?

[Just Endless]

Thanks guys! Right now I'm concidering to buy the first volumes of Lucifer, Y: The Last Man and American Vampire and pick one of them and then get the rest of it. But at some point I want to get Swamp Thing and Doom Patrol. The Invisibles, how good is this title? Also, The Chill, The Witching Hour, Kill Your Boyfriend and Pride Of Baghdad are they worth buying?

All right. Vertigo I've read:
Sandman [Very good, if clearly not written for me]
Invisibles [Has shining moments of brilliance, vastly outdone by constant (intentional) confusion. Morrison's a genius, and you can find it here, but you can find it EASIER elsewhere]
Y The Last Man [Really straightforward, but really good. Think TV's LOST.]
Morrison's Animal Man [From what you've said, you should really just read this. The less you know the better]
Unwritten (to current issue) [To my mind, probably the best Vertigo series of the last few years. It's intelligent and referential, and manages to pull off some crazy moments. My highest recommendation.]
Fables (to 14 or so) [I think Fables is ok up until volume 11, and a complete, COMPLETE, waste of time after that point. Shoot me.]
Young Liars [A beautiful mess, and you probably won't like it. I think it's pretty great.]
Sweet Tooth [Real decompressed, but really cool. I'm looking forward to going through all of it in one week or so once it's done.]


Now, out of The Chill, The Witching Hour, Kill Your Boyfriend and Pride Of Baghdad, I've read the last two. Neither is a particularly good indication of their respective author's work, in my opinion, and GM and BKV are two of my favorites in comics.

AND, one more thing. I LOVE Unwritten, to death, but Carey's other stuff has never worked too well for me (Petrefax, Crossing Midnight, IDK how to even look at his xmen and not be confused, it's xmen). Should I give Lucifer a shot? I feel like the library probably has at least a few volumes, I could sample it a bit. Yay? Nay?

[new_onslaught]

Indeed, Fables has lost some of its momentum after vol.11. Propably will check out vol.17, but after that I don't know if its worth it.