• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Comic Book Herald

A Comic Book Reading Order Guide For Beginners & Fans

  • Reading Orders
    • Marvel
    • My Marvelous Year
    • DC Comics
    • All Comic Book Publishers
    • Most Recent
  • Beginner Guides
    • Beginner’s Guide To Comics In 2023
    • Marvel 2023: Where to Start?
    • DC 2023: Where to Start?
    • Best of Lists
    • Tablets for Comics
    • Guides for Digital Readers
  • Reviews
    • Marvel Comics
    • DC Comics
    • Comic Book Movies
    • Comic Book TV
    • Video Games
  • Podcasts & Video
    • My Marvelous Year
    • Best Comics Ever (CBH)
    • CBH on Youtube!
  • About Me
    • My Favorite Comics of All Time
    • Columns
    • CBH Email Newsletter
  • Support Comic Book Herald
    • Ways to support

Best of Lists

The Best Darth Vader Comics!

April 22, 2021 by Sara Century Leave a Comment

The Star Wars comic book universe has spanned many decades (actually debuting right before A New Hope hit the theaters in 1977). The books have gone from canon to extended universe and back again, switched publishers multiple times, and often been mostly forgotten by fans of the films. Still, there are a heck of a lot of Star Wars comics that are easily on par with the films, and, with the exception of a few times during which the franchise lost its direction, there have always been great Star Wars comics.

Some Star Wars heroes and villains specifically benefit from their comic book counterparts receiving greater focus than the movies could allow, and one of those characters is Darth Vader. Despite his heavy focus in the films and The Clone Wars TV series, there are always going to be questions left unanswered when it comes to our tempestuous Anakin Skywalker. The comics delve further into his background, but perhaps more importantly, there are a whole lot of issues where he is fully the terrifying force of destruction we saw in the films. In the fleshing-out of his story, Vader only becomes more villainous. [Read more…] about The Best Darth Vader Comics!

Filed Under: Best of Lists, Featured Tagged With: Darth Vader, Star Wars

The Best Spider-Man (Peter Parker) Comics of All Time!

April 17, 2021 by David Bowen 3 Comments

With almost sixty years of publication history, comicdom’s friendliest of Friendly Neighborhood heroes has seen a staggering range of stories and interpretations—not all of them compatible. Indeed, Peter Parker has inspired some of the greatest superhero comics ever—and some of the absolute worst. There’s just so much content in Peter’s world that it can be difficult to know where to start.

But if I were to imagine a reader completely new to the Spider-Man of Marvel’s mainline universe, Earth-616, the ten story arcs and creator-run highlights listed below would be a most excellent entrée for beginners. Because there’s so much material to draw from, my criterion for this list is finding those moments where satisfying, entertaining storytelling endures not just on its own merits but through continued relevance to Spidey’s contemporary world and mythos.

And if you’re keeping up with Nick Spencer’s current Amazing run, you know that he’s been mining deep into seemingly all of Spidey’s endlessly layered history. His enthusiasm for the whole Spider-Man mythos is inspiring, proving that these classic stories have largely aged well, rich with material that continues to satisfy and provoke. [Read more…] about The Best Spider-Man (Peter Parker) Comics of All Time!

Filed Under: Best of Lists, Featured Tagged With: Spider-Man

The Best Green Lantern Comics of All Time!

April 16, 2021 by John Galati 5 Comments

Origins

The Silver Age taught fans and creators at least one message: “heroes” are more important than the characters who play them. Counting only main continuity appearances, there are at there have been thirteen Thors, six Captains Marvel, maybe three or four Wolverines, and around a solar system’s worth of Spider-People.

The Green Lantern title is a perfect example of this message because Green Lantern isn’t a destiny, it’s a job title. It does away with the “destined” aspect, and goes a long way towards helping character transitions. But it also gives the stories ease and efficiency.

Green Lantern stories are vehicles that bring a new hero into adventure more quickly through smart use of the preexisting, easily comprehensible Lantern Corps. This craftsmanship makes the hero’s origin important, but not so heavy that it’s hard to progress beyond. Additionally, it means their start isn’t really a transformation. The moment the Fantastic Four are hit by cosmic rays, they change fundamentally and forever. Lanterns, on the other hand, feel more like the same people they always were, only with a new job. [Read more…] about The Best Green Lantern Comics of All Time!

Filed Under: Best of Lists, Featured Tagged With: Green Lantern

Best of the Martian Manhunter!

April 15, 2021 by Sara Century Leave a Comment

Martian Manhunter #1 variant cover by Joshua Middleton

Among DC’s many great heroes, the Martian Manhunter stands out for being especially underrated. His early appearances are difficult to track down in trade; he is the “Big 7” League member with the very least in the way of solo stories, and he has long been used primarily as a supporting character with few chances to truly shine on his own. Making his debut in a back-up feature in Detective Comics #225, Martian Manhunter joined the League more or less as a substitute for Superman back when DC feared that overusing the son of Krypton would weaken sales. Eventually, interest in MM waned, and he vanished almost entirely when writers had him return to Mars to be with his people once more. But let’s face it, that was never going to be the end of the road for this rad telepathic shape-shifting Martian.

Truly, you can’t keep a good Manhunter down, and after years of sporadic appearances, he finally returned to regular continuity in 1984, rejoining the Justice League in 1987. Since then, he’s been considered a mainstay of the team, but his versatility and effectiveness as a team member cuts way down on the time we spend looking deeper into his inner world. That’s all the more reason why Martian Manhunter’s greatest moments deserve celebration, because he has been with the League for a long time and he deserves the recognition!

[Read more…] about Best of the Martian Manhunter!

Filed Under: Best of Lists, Featured Tagged With: DC Comics, martian manhunter

The 10 Best European Comics!

April 10, 2021 by John Galati Leave a Comment

Corto Maltese

Writer/Artist: Hugo Pratt

Corto Maltese was Indiana Jones and Han Solo before Harrison Ford was even invented. He’s Lupin III and Spike Spiegel and yes, even Carmen Sandiego. The character and his title are true classics, capturing and even defining not just a style, but the entire tradition of “action books.”

So it’s hilariously perfect that he shows up late to his own book for the same reason Star Wars doesn’t start at the Cantina.

Instead, it begins with a hilarious ruse. We start with an eighteen-year-old Serbian deserter named Rasputin, a boy having faced such hardship that only the internationally renowned adventurer, scoundrel, and bon vivant Maltese can help—a man so famous, it takes real-world literary master Jack London to bring the two together.

This is a bit like saying that if you want Spider-Man’s help, you have to go through Hemingway first.

The Corto Maltese books feel somehow both dated and contemporary. The tropes they invented are still very much in use, and Pratt’s style can still be seen in Moebius, Paul Pope, and more manga than I can count. It’s also behind the creation of Benedict Cumberbatch. [Read more…] about The 10 Best European Comics!

Filed Under: Best of Lists, Featured

  • « Go to Previous Page
  • Go to page 1
  • Interim pages omitted …
  • Go to page 5
  • Go to page 6
  • Go to page 7
  • Go to page 8
  • Go to page 9
  • Interim pages omitted …
  • Go to page 34
  • Go to Next Page »

Primary Sidebar

The Comic Book Herald Podcast!

Apple PodcastsGoogle PodcastsRSS
My Ultimate Year podcast and reading club

Recent Posts

  • Who Watched the Watchmen? Flashpoint Beyond April 1, 2023
  • “Sins of Sinister” Part 7: Storm and the Brotherhood of Mutants #2—in Review! March 31, 2023
  • Hickman’s G.O.D.S. Marvel Comic Announcement! | Comic Book Herald Live! March 30, 2023
  • X-Men #15-17 in Review—Return to the Vault! March 29, 2023
  • “Mister Mammoth”, “Spy Superb” & “Hairball” with Matt Kindt | CBH Interviews #108 March 28, 2023
  • 2002 Pt. 4: X-Force, Chamber, & Exiles March 27, 2023
  • Pax Americana and The Infinite Loop Of Imperiums March 25, 2023
  • Fall of X Teasers & Al Ewing’s Sins of Sinister | Comic Book Herald Live! March 24, 2023
  • “Sins of Sinister” Part 6: Immoral X-Men #2—in Review! March 23, 2023
  • DESTINY OF X | The Krakoan Empire Divided March 22, 2023
  • “Secret Identity” with Alex Segura | CBH Interviews #107 March 21, 2023
  • 2002 Pt. 3: Daredevil & Elektra March 20, 2023
  • Immoral X-Men #2 and Wolverine vs. Dark Beast! | Comic Book Herald Live! March 17, 2023
  • X-Men: The Animated Series Season 2 Rewatch! March 16, 2023
  • “Sins of Sinister” Part 5: Nightcrawlers #2—in Review! March 15, 2023

Popular Articles

DC Rebirth Guide

Batman Reading Order

DC New 52 Reading Order

Marvel Ultimate Universe Guide

Civil War Reading Order

Marvel Cosmic Reading Order

The Best Comics of All Time!

Deadpool Reading Order

Justice League Reading Order

Complete Thanos Reading Order

X-Men Reading Guide (Modern Era)

Age of Apocalypse Reading Order

Modern Marvel Universe in 25 Trades

Best Tablet For Digital Comics

Is Marvel Unlimited Worth It?

Footer

New to Comic Book Herald?

Hey there - my name's Dave and this is my comic book blog. It's my way of sharing my borderline obsessive addiction to the comic book medium, and I hope you like some of what's going on here.

Most people that come here are looking for my (WIP) Marvel reading order guide. You can probably also get a sense if CBH is for you by taking a look at some of my columns.

If you like what you see, let's connect on Facebook or Twitter. Or, leave a comment on the blog here, I'm always looking for new awesome people in the comic book community.

More on Comic Book Herald

  • Home
  • About
  • Support CBH
  • My Marvelous Year
  • Join!
Privacy Policy
Terms of Service

Recent Posts

  • Who Watched the Watchmen? Flashpoint Beyond
  • “Sins of Sinister” Part 7: Storm and the Brotherhood of Mutants #2—in Review!
  • Hickman’s G.O.D.S. Marvel Comic Announcement! | Comic Book Herald Live!
  • X-Men #15-17 in Review—Return to the Vault!
  • “Mister Mammoth”, “Spy Superb” & “Hairball” with Matt Kindt | CBH Interviews #108

Copyright © 2023 · Metro Pro on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in