Ummm...Is This Thing On?

It's kind of fitting...

A long time ago in a galaxy that's...well...this one, a guy by the name of Alan David Doane prettty much renewed my interest in comics. Eventually I started this blog, and for awhile I wrote for Comic Book Galaxy, Alan's site. Unfortunately, my interest in comics lessened due to various factors, and I pretty much disappeared from it all.

For all intents and purposes, I was out...so leave it to ADD to pull me back in (only the seven hundreth time I've made that reference!), even if it is just briefly (who knows, it may not be).

Over on his blog he's posted a list of his "100 Must-Read Graphic Novels." His list is actually in response to Eddie Campell's remark (yes, on his blog...) that "anyone who thinks there are more than a few dozen graphic novels worth reading is an idiot." Which in turn is an aside to Joe McCulloch's review of a book called The 500 Essential Graphic Novels...and the fact that it doesn't list any of his (Campbell's) works (I think). It's all quite dizzying.

So, as I sat at my comp eating ice cream and watching "Scrubs" on DVD, I read over ADD's list. Of course I knew going in that I'd be ashamed of how many books he lists that I haven't read (Seriously Batman: Year One & Daredevil: Born Again, why haven't I read these? Hell if I know) that's usually the way it is with his lists. I knew I'd be surprised at a few of his pics (War Stories by Ennis & Co. is a big example...I do love it, but not my first choice of Ennis' works) as well as a few things he left out (Blankets to name one). But, hey, he never claimed it was some definitive list, just a list.

Then, at the end he throws it out there.

"What's your list?' He asks.

Dammit all to hell.

So...like ADD before me I'll try to limit creators to just a few books, and I'll go ahead and say that mine is likely to be more superhero heavy than his, just cuz that's how I roll. Also, I'll go ahead an get the duplicates from his list out of the way...and I may be stretching the word "graphic novel" a bit, not sure if everything I list is available in a collected format. And I doubt I'll make it to 100.


1. All-Star Superman by Grant Morrison & Frank Quitely

2. Bone by Jeff Smith

3. WE3 by Grant Morrison & Frank Quitely

4. The Complete Calvin & Hobbes by Bill Watterson

5. Watchmen by Alan Moore & Dave gibbons

6. Bluesman by Rob vollmar & Pablo Callejo

7. The Castaways by Rob Vollmar & Pablo Callejo

8. DC: The New Frontier by Darwyne Cooke

9. Mad Love by Paul Dini & Bruce Timm

10. Ghost World by Dan Clowes

11. Ice Haven by Dan Clowes

(That's it for what the two lists share...)

12. Blankets by Craig Thompson

13. Preacher by Garth Ennis, Steve Dillon and Glenn Fabry

14. The Maxx by Sam Keith and William Messner-Loebs

15. Essex County by Jeff Lemire

16. Three Fingers by Rich Koslowski

17. Spiral-Bound by Aaron Renier

18. Batman: The Long Halloween by Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale

19. Castle Waiting by Linda Medley

20. Kingdom Come by Mark Waid and Alex Ross

21. Marvels by Kurt Busiek and Alex Ross

22. Fantastic Four Vol. 1-6 by Mark Waid & Mike Weiringo (Mostly)

23. Superman: Birthright by Mark Waid and Lenil Francis Yu

24. Loki by Robert Rodi & Essad Ribic

25. De: Tales by Fabio Moon and Gabriel Ba

26. Superf*ckers by James Kochalka

27. Y the Last Man by Brian K. Vaughan & Pia Guerra (Mostly)

28. Feeble Attempt by Jeffrey Brown

29. Fragile Prophet by Jeff Davidson and Stephen R. Buell

30. New X-Men by Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely (Mostly)

31. The Crow by James O'Barr

32. Zero Girl by Sam Keith

33. 30 Days of Night by Steve Niles and Ben Templesmith

34. The Death of Superman by Various Writers/Artists

35. The League of Extraordinary Gentleman by Alan Moore and Kevin O'Neill

36. X-Men: God Loves, Man Kills by Chris Claremont and Brent Anderson

37. The Infinity Gauntlet by Jim Starlin and Ron Lim

38. Tales Designed to Thrizzle by Michael Kupperman

39. American Century by Howard Chaykin, David Tischman & Various artists

40. Aztek the Ultimate Man by Grant Morrison, Mark Millar Keith Champagne and Stephen Harris

41. Blaze of Glory by John Ostrander and Leonardo Manco

42. Legion Lost by Dan Abnett, Andy Lanning and Oliver Coipel (Mostly)

43. Midnight Nation by J. Michael Straczynski and Gary Frank

44. Superman for All Seasons by Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale

45. The Intimates by Joe Casey, Jim Lee and Giuseppe Camuncoli (Mostly)

46. Palookaville by Seth

47. Quit Your Job by James Kochalka

48. The R. Crumb Handbook by Robert Crumb

49. Conan by Kurt Busiek & Cary Nord

50. Murder Mysteries by Neil Gaiman and P. Craig Russell

So, that's 50, 39 of which aren't on ADD's list. I'd say 139 is more than a few dozen (It's actually slightly more than eleven dozen...)

EDIT: I should never write posts at three in the morning...good God there were a lot of spelling errors.

-L