November Top 25 Graphic Novels
1 WONDER WOMAN SPIRIT OF TRUTH OVERSIZED SC 32,786
The last of the Paul Dini, Alex Ross oversize comics. While they have been good, they haven't been GREAT. Ross's art is oddly compelling, even though he's getting a bit too realistic for super-heroes (where his Marvels work was hyper-realistic with impressionistic overtones). Still, for $10 it IS an impressive package, and Dini shows that Wonder Woman does have the potential for decent stories. Mildly recommended for the art.
2 STAR WARS JANGO FETT TP 15,398
Again, this is not a graphic novel. This is a glorified annual. But it DOES make Dark Horse look impressive to put it here, when it would look anemic if it were in the comic listings. You know. Where it belongs.
3 LONE WOLF & CUB VOL 16 GATEWAY INTO WINTER TP (MR) 13,445
Every month I list this as the best comic being published. This is no exception. Highly recommended, and head and shoulders above the stuff being published currently.
4 AKIRA VOL 5 (Note Price) 9,454
I am getting this series of graphic novels, even though I have a complete run of the EPIC reprints. Why? It is in black and white, as it was printed in Japan, the story works much better in big clumps, and the retouching and translation have been cleaned up a bit. Highly recommended, even though it feels a little dated.
5 JLA RIDDLE O/T BEAST HC 8,112
They do one of these every year, and while they are great, do we really need to pay $25 for an annual? Put it out as a softcover at $10 and we'll be all over it.
6 ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN VOL 2 TP 6,847
The re-launch of Spider-Man done right. While some of the older comics creators (Byrne, Peter David, etc) have been complaining about it, this is by far the best Spider-Man book being printed, and is Highly Recommended. So What if it is new continuity or is "Hollywood-ified", it's well-written and well-drawn. What else matters?
7 GREEN LANTERN LEGACY LAST WILL & TESTAMENT OF HAL JORDAN HC 6,383
I thought he was alive again? Again, not worth being a hardcover. I remember when getting a Hardcover was a big deal (Arkham Asylum), now it's how DC does its annuals. And that sucks.
8 AMAZING SPIDER-MAN TP 5,919
J. Michael Stra...oh whatever. They are darn good Spidey stories, and if you didn't get the individual issues, pick this up. Not as good as Ultimate Spidey, but still Highly Recommended.
9 PLANETARY FOURTH MAN TP 5,805
And with this they should have stopped. Planetary is a book that is very hard to describe, other than saying, "What if all the pop culture you loved was real and had meaning?" For such a well-done book, it is surprisingly simple. There have been a couple of issues since #12 (which is where this book ends) but they seem like add-ons. Get this and Vol. 1 and just wait for the rest. Highly Recommended.
10 HELLBOY BONES OF GIANTS ILLUSTRATED NOVEL 5,252
I like Hellboy, but the novels have been kind of bland. There are better novels for a cheaper price out there. Or, just get the Lovecraft books used and see where the whole thing came from.
11 100 BULLETS VOL 3 HANG UP O/T HANG LOW TP (MR) 4,658
I tried the first couple of issues and didn't care for it. Too many characters who look and talk the same. Some people love it, but there's a lot better in the way of crime fiction being done in comics now.
12 ESSENTIAL DR STRANGE TP $15.95 MAR 4,455
You have no idea how long I have waited for this book. Not only is this Ditko's best work ever, not only does this have all of the stuff he did on the character, but for the first time, they will be reprinting the END of the long story started that has never gotten completed in any of the Dr. Strange reprint books. This is highly recommended for anyone who wants to see just how weird and wonderful Early Marvel stuff can be...and because it's fantasy related, it's the one book that hasn't aged as the other Early Marvel stuff has.
13 BLADE O/T IMMORTAL GATHERING VOL II TP (MR) 4,406
Another Japanese samurai drama. Not as good as Lone Wolf and Cub, but what is?
14 BANNER TP 3,515
A 4 issue mini-series with Corben art about the Hulk. Maybe it's because I only liked the book when Peter David wrote it, but I can't even work up the energy to flip through the book to see if it's tolerable. Corben's art is always oddly fun and could look really strange in a Marvel book.
15 JUST A PILGRIM TP 3,499
Garth Ennis doing a mini-series for Wizard's comic publishing arm. Is it just me, or does no one care about what Wizard prints as a comic, no matter who does it? The Mark Waid one died, this Garth Ennis one doesn't seem to have3 done well. I haven't read it yet, but the sales don't look all that good.
16 US WAR MACHINE TP 3,360
One of Marvel's MAX titles (which means more mature) and an instant trade paperback being printed the week after the mini-series ends. So, in other words, don't buy the mini-series from Marvel.
17 TRANSFORMERS VOL 2 GN END OF ROAD 3,275
Even though I'm a child of the 80's, these robots never did a damn thing for me. Now, the Micronauts are a much different story, and I'd shell out good money for a new series about THEM.
18 GREEN LANTERN TRAITOR TP 2,949
Reprinting some very well done Steven Grant stories featuring Gil Kane's last art job. If you didn't buy them in the recent DC anthology series (which most people didn't) you should get this one just to see what all the fuss was about with Kane, one of the masters of the medium.
19 ADV OF BARRY WEEN BOY GENIUS MONKEY TALES VOL 3 TP (MR) 2,705
MONKEYS!!! This is a fun, silly series that should be an animated series aimed at adults. In fact, if it weren't for the cursing, I would say to give this one to kids. However, the cursing is there, so it's highly recommended for people of the PG-13 persuasion.
20 TOMB RAIDER WITCHBLADE & OTHER STORIES TP 2,681
All the Tomb Raider team-ups in one easy to ignore book. Let's see, the games suck now and the movie was nice eye candy, but not much more. Has the craze died?
21 MARVEL MASTERWORKS THOR VOL 2 HC 2,587
The first volume wasn't all that great, seeing as how Lee and Kirby handed off the series as soon as they could get away with back when it started, but in this book they come back, and start putting together the stories that got the book to be a lot of fun. While the FF gets most of the credit for Lee and Kirby, by issue 130 or so, this was just as good, with 150 -160 being one of Kirby's best runs, mildly marred by shoddy inking. However, for most fans, I would just say to buy the Essentials, since it's cheaper. This is for us Hard-Core fans only.
22 QUIMBY THE MOUSE SC 2,266
Chris Ware's secondary work in Acme Novelty Library. However, Ware's second tier work is still brilliant, and this does more playing with form than story. Highly recommended, but be prepared to have to work a little to read the pages, as Ware is stretching the form in ways you can't quite imagine.
23 WEREWOLF APOCALYPSE VOL 1 GN BONE GNAWERS (MR) 2,262
Another $5.95 48 page comic dressed up as a graphic novel.
24 TOO MUCH COFFEE MAN AMUSING MUSINGS TP 2,156
Light, fluffy, silly and not my cup of Joe. Maybe I just don't get it, but TMCM seems more like a good idea for a comic than an actual good comic.
25 THUNDERBOLTS JUSTICE LIKE LIGHTNING TP 2,152
A reprint of the first few issues of this once fun series. However, they don't print enough issues to get the full effect of the first year, so if you do buy it, pick up the rest of the first 12 issues to see just how well this book used to be done.