Much like Liam Neeson, I’m always making lists. If you’re familiar with Comic Book Herald, you know these are typically massive reading order lists, with a primary focus on Marvel comics (and some DC!).
The below list is a very different breed, and is instead a collection of all my favorite comics and graphic novels I have ever read. Every time I read a new comic book series, I add it to the list, and rank it among the substantial competition of all the best comics ever.
There are two essential notes I’d like to add before you get to the list.
1 – I do not claim to have read all the greatest comics of all time. I am literally one man (at best, a half animal, part party machine). This list is an evolving organism that will take new shape as I pick up new books. If you have a personal favorite you don’t see included here, I’d love to hear about it in the comments, on Twitter, via email, on the street, from a disembodied voice floating through my attic… you get the idea.
2 – For the most part, I do not include Marvel comics throughout this list. The only real exceptions are Marvel graphic novels, or limited series that I haven’t recommended elsewhere. Again, if you’re looking for your Marvel comics fixin’s, I’d check out my favorite 100 stories from 1998 to 2015, or the top 25 Marvel trade collections from 1961 to 1998.
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Finally, the rankings you’ll see here are almost entirely comics I like a lot. The higher a comic is ranked, the more I like it. The only real blatant exception to this is Mark Millar and J.G. Jones’ “Wanted,” which is a comic I despise beyond words, and really only want to include in perpetual last place on this list to make a point. (The point? It stinks.)
Let the superlative headlines begin, and enjoy the comics!
Last Updated: 4.19
I know this is almost as old as the world, but it always manages to surprise me how all best comics are supposedly American on most of the top lists compiled by Americans. What total BS 😐
Most of the European classics are missing. Valerian on place 211?!
This list is a joke.
Otomo? Moebius? Loisel? Corben? Torres? Miller? Hewlett & Martin? Druillet? Liberatore?
Hey, so I was wondering, at what point during this list is there a shift from the comics actually being beloved to being terrible? I know that with several of the bottommost entries I’ve seen you berate them in other places. Have you ever considered making tiers kind of like with your MCU power rankings? I enjoy your recommendations and would definitely appreciate any such additions. Thanks Dave!
That’s a good question, Gideon.
I’ve maintained for a while the top 100 is the real gold standard, but right now that probably runs to about top 107 (through Wic + Div). And then within the top 100, anything inside the top 60 is a book where I’ll stop whatever I’m doing and read without question.
The next notable tier for me comes right around book 220 (right now JLA: Ultramarines), through to book #312 (right now Identity Crisis). Starting with #359, we get into “I have very mixed feelings about this” territory. And then right now anything from #457 to the end marks comics I really wouldn’t recommend. 467 to 470 are genuine contenders for worst comic of all time.
So, agreed, tiers would be a very good idea!
Have you read Dark Knight III: The Master Race? It’s one i’ve been thinking about but with Dark Knight Strikes Again being so awful I’m skeptical. I didn’t see it your list so I wasn’t sure if you just haven’t read it or if it was really more despised than Wanted for you.
Excluding 100-bullets instantly made this list a joke.
446 entries made this list a joke. It is a shameless click link grab. Sad.
Top 10 needs to make this list
Highly recommended:-
Judge Dredd Block Mania and The Apocolypse war
2000AD – Nemesis The Warlock
2000AD – Bad Company
2000AD – Slaine the Horned God
2000AD – Song of the surfer
Judge Dredd America
Judge Dredd the pit
2000AD Halo Jones (Maybe the best thing ever written by Alan Moore)
Lone wolf and cub.
Lone wolf and cub.
I remember seeing some Bone books – the covers at least – as a child, but never knew what those were all about. When I saw it on this list, I decided to give it a try. Thank you so much for listing it here!
Have you ever read Nimona? I feel like it might make it into the list.
Sory by bad engrish.
Oh, and Asterios Polyp should absolutely be in every “best comics” list!
Hi! Have you read The Sculptor by Scott McCloud? In that case, what was it like to you?
Please check out Ta-Nehisi Coates’ Black Panther run which is current
Incredible list!! For the most part I agree it is almost perfect but it needs some eastern colours. I mean that there are not some asian series(manga etc). (Sorry if my english are not completely right)
Hope you give Sunstone by Stjepan Šejić a shot
So, I have one major criticism of this list. Why is Sex Criminals not listed as number 69? I mean it’s close enough at 62 already that I think it’s well worth the minor fudge of the numbers to place it where it belongs.
Haha this is the greatest oversight in the history of Comic Book Herald. Great call.
Good one!
Well if i have to make a suggestion. I recommend Fall of Cthulhu. Although not superheroes.. the storyline itself is worth a read. Based on the work of HP Lovecraft. SUch a shame it had to end though.
So, Y The Last Man… what is the appeal? I like Brian K. Vaughn’s stuff, love Runaways, really enjoy Saga, but I hated every moment of the 18 issues I could stand of Y. Not sure why, for some reason I felt I was reading it wrong 😛
It happens 🙂 It’s definitely a tighter focus than, say, Saga. Personally I love the characters more than the concept. If you gave it 18 issues, I’m sure just not for you… I’d suggest BKV’s Paper Girls if you haven’t already!
I had all of the Bone series and some of the side stories and I sold it all off. I kinda i wish i wouldn’t have. I would like to read it again.
It started out so strong. I read the first two volumes several times. But somewhere around volume 5 or 6 it started to fall flat. By the time i got to the end of the series it didn’t hold my interest, so i sold it. I might start buying it back…
Wow, a full run of Bone sounds amazing!
I read it all in one, so was highly invested throughout. All ages is so hard, and Bone pulls it off so well in my mind.
There’s a Bone: One Volume Edition that you can pick up on ebay for $20 or less that’s totally worth it.
No Peanuts, Calvin and Hobbes or Molly and the Bear?
I agree with a couple of other posts…
You should really try Astro City if you haven’t. I assume you haven’t bc it’s not on the list. And it would be. So try it.
I agree with a couple of other posts…
You should really try Astro City if you haven’t. I assume you haven’t bc it’s not on the list. And it would be. So try it.
I have to agree with Watchmen, but does it include before watchmen?
just curious, thanks.
Nope, I include Before Watchmen separately. I’ve listed the Minutemen collection somewhere on the list (quite a bit lower than #1, though!).
I hope one day you add Marvel books to this list because I would very much like to see where certain Marvel books would fall in your overall rankings.
I think Astro City, by Kurt Busiek and Brent Anderson, with covers by Alex Ross (!!!!) is entirely deserving of being on this list. It is certainly my number one.
Seriously, read it. It is amazing!
I can’t believe it’s not on this list. Astro City is a fantastic series. Very few writers know how to really hit the emotions of the everyday man like Busiek. It’s such a completely original and interesting series.
Given the nice showing by Marvels and Kingdom Come, there are several other works featuring Alex Ross’ terrific art and story ideas to great effect:
Uncle Sam Issues 1 and 2 (1998) (complimented for its story by Alan F*ing Moore),
Superman: Peace on Earth, Batman: War on Crime, Shazam: Power of Hope, Wonder Woman: Spirit of Truth, and Liberty & Justice
showcasing some of the most heartbreaking and insightful stories into DC heroes that I can find, and found in a single collection called the World’s Greatest Super Heroes
Enjoy my suggestions Dave, thanks
Dave, I want to recommend Mark Millar’s Starlight to you. It think it’s a fantastic miniseries, and the first issue is one of the best issues of comics I think I’ve ever read. And I’m not even a huge fan of Millar. Check it out!
I agree with you about most of the comics in this list but I think squadron supreme by mark Gruenwald deserves a spot there
I think it’s a lot better than Jessica jones
You must try Stray Bullets by David Lapham from the beginning. Image has been putting out all of them collected recently. It is the only one in my top five you don’t have on this list and I would love to see your opinion.
Wonder Woman: the Hiketeia
A Wrinkle in Time
So far, a wonderful and surprisingly accurate ranking
Great list! Thanks for all the good work you’re doing here, I’m just starting to use some of your reading lists to work my way through some Marvel classics on MU (literally just started on Claremont’s X-Men run yesterday).
Once upon a time I would have felt crazy recommending a Transformers title, but I think that IDW’s More Than Meets the Eye series by James Roberts (currently going strong at #52) is worthy of a place in this list. The first 22 issues (its ‘first season’) are particularly consistent; the ‘second season’ (#28 onwards, following a mediocre crossover event with a stablemate TF title) less so, though I’m reserving judgement for the final story until it reaches its conclusion.
I’ve heard a lot of good things about the run, it’s definitely on the to read list!
U should also check out ‘The Punisher’ Max series by garth ennis. And Daredevil ‘Born Again’ by frank miller. I’m sure they’ll be on your list someday.
Was hopin 2 see ‘Irredeemable’ by Mark Waid. Probably my favorite ‘indie’ comic book of all time.
How about the Judas contract by Wolfman and Perez? New Teen Titans series is probably one of the most underrated comic lines in history, with the creation of Raven the daughter of an other dimensional satan. Slade Wilson the genetically modifed mercenary, Starfire, princess enslaved and escaped from an evil race of ET. Gotta love a bunch of Teen superheroes teaming up to destroy a demon that can dissipate mans atoms into the lightstream to cause eternal suffering and nothingness for the rest of time.
A bit late to comment, probably. Just wanted ti say that I think this i a good list. I haven’t read most, but now I want to try them out. Btw I think Watchmen is great, but in my opinion Cerebus the Aardvark is the end all be all of comics. It may have it’s flaws, but good far outweighs the bad and I would definitely suggest reading it if you haven’t
Great list. A few that I would add.
Boys- Garth Ennis
Batman & Robin (New 52)
Revolver – Matt Kindt
Jonah Hex – Justin Gray
Batman: Earth One Vol 1 & 2
Goliath -Tom Gauld
Transmetropolitan. Would recommend it to anyone but for someone like you who writes (and pretty well at that) it resonates even more.
Read and enjoyed the first volume and then just never made it back. It’s on the list! For as much as I love Warren Ellis’ Marvel comics and some of his novels, I’m woefully behind on his best comics.
Also, thank you 🙂
Have you read supreme blue rose? I loved it. Super weird acid take on supreme by warren ellis. Really David lynchy. There are even some suttle twin peaks Easter eggs. It’s like if alan moore’s supreme and inland empire (or whatever inserted random lynch film works) had a baby. Also the artwork is original and awesome
I have not read, but one Twin Peaks reference and I’m sold. I’ll check it out.
I’m just getting in to some Image comics this week because of the comixology special offers.
-Revival
-Postal (definite favoutrite)
-Outcast
-Birthright
-The Tithe
That should get me through the next few weeks. I was having Marvel cheesy dialogue overload.
No 100 Bullets? Get on it, it’s ace. Thanks for the list – that Inhumans trade had escaped my attention until now.
Great list! As for additions, I see another commenter mentioned Planetary. I would also add Ex Machina, The Fade Out, Sleeper, Pretty Deadly vol 1. And my daughter is chiming in from the background for Echo.
Yay, Dave’s a Dreadstar fan! I love the whole run, but I think the final 24 or so issues, the ones that Peter David wrote, are especially great. I really hope that the current omnibus collections will cover the entire run. I own it in floppies, but it’d be nice to have it on my bookshelf.
Dreadstar’s so great 🙂 I would love to see the David era better collected as well.
A lot of really great selections on this list! So pleased “Morning Glories” made the cut!
Have you ever read Archaia’s “Artesia” by Mark Smylie? A truly rich and intricate fantasy epic. Great review of it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WnlC8vvtoS4
Other great titles in no particular order:
— Iron Empires (Sheva’s War in particular)
— 100 Bullets
— Conan (Dark Horse)
— Preacher
— Rex Mundi
— The Metabarons
— Negation
— The Revenge of Count Skarbek
— Girls
— Scalped
— Blueberry (by Moebius)
— Meridian
— Give Me Liberty
— Drifter
— Planetary
— Mice Templar
— Marvel’s 1602 (you’ve written elsewhere this wasn’t a favorite of yours)
And no list is complete without some “GOON” by Eric Powell!!!
I appreciate all the work on your guides which are incredibly helpful. Hopefully, you might find something you like on this list that you haven’t heard of.
Awesome list, there are a handful on there I haven’t even heard of, so I will certainly explore. Thanks for sharing!
Did u leave alan moore’s swamp thing off the list? Maybe I missed it
I’ve only read (and enjoyed) the first 10 issues. Want to finish it before i rank. It will be added for sure.
I can totally understand. I’ve only read the first 9. I see it as something really amazing, but it’s so heavy. Almost on the depressing side. I would do the same thing at this point, if I was to compile a list. Just being curious.
If you had to choose a top 10 of all time, would these first 10 be the ones? (with whatever marvel events omitted mixed in)
Mixing in Marvel makes it really tricky for me. So many of my favorites are extended runs. I’m not sure any would bump anything out of my top 10 here. Bulletproof Coffin and Mind MGMT are the clearest beneficiaries of recency bias, but for the time being I absolutely love those comics. If I was going to bump From Hell out of the 10 slot, it would be for the first 40 issues of Amazing Spider-Man, the Walt Simonson run on Thor, the Claremont/Cockrum/Byrne Uncanny X-Men, or everything Hickman’s done from Secret Warriors through Secret Wars. Off the top of my head 🙂 I’ll have to make another list…
Hahaha cool, yeah, hickman’s new avengers was got me back into comics (after 20 years) so I look forward to whatever he does. Did you read god is dead? I was about 14 in and lost interest, but still might. It was intriguing that alan Moore was writing some associated stuff.
John Byrne’s Man of Steel #1-6 is a great miniseries that I would put on this list.
That’s a good call, I’ll need to reread to place.
Interesting list…I have to agree with a lot of it. I would have put Strangers in Paradise much higher. There are a lot in there that I have no knowledge of, so will have to do some research. And now you have sparked my interest in a couple that I had heard of but had not given much thought: Batman: The Black Mirror and Grayson (The New 52). Dick Grayson is on of may all time favorite characters, but I have had a hard time getting into the New 52…may be time to try again.
I wonder why Fables was left off the list…did miss it? I would have that at number one on my own list.
I actually just read the first volume of fables this week. My brothers been raving about it for years, so you can expect to see it added when i finish!
You’ll have to get up to the “The Last Castle” which is in the 4th volume, I think. That is the issue that did it for me.