94 replies

1. Nicklas Bryntesson Bluesky 1 min later

   Paper girls!

   1. Zach Leatherman Bluesky 3 min later

      Nice! Thanks!

2. konsonantenboy Mastodon 2 min later

   @zachleat Big love for Thorgal!

   1. Zach Leatherman Mastodon 4 min later

      @konsonantenboy would this be a good one to start? I see a few in there https://leagueofcomicgeeks.com/comic/2940731/thorgal-vol-1-child-of-the-stars

      1. Damien Mastodon 23 min later

         @zachleat @konsonantenboy you need to read them in the order of the collection

         This website seems broken: it says volume 1 at the top and 7 (the correct here) later

         1. konsonantenboy Mastodon 2 hr later

            @damien @zachleat Yeah, the order is important for the whole story. I think here's the proper list: https://thorgal.fandom.com/wiki/Thorgal_(comics)

            1. Zach Leatherman Mastodon 3 hr later

               @konsonantenboy @damien oh, there was a Vol. 0 trade publication. Usually they start at Vol. 1! Thanks for clarifying, that would have been confusing 😅

3. Alan Stearns Mastodon 3 min later

   @zachleat Persepolis, Bone

   1. Zach Leatherman Mastodon 7 min later

      @famulimas oh hell yeah, nice. Thank you.

4. Michael Bluesky 3 min later

   Hellboy, 20th Century Men

   1. Zach Leatherman Bluesky 47 min later

      ooh TIL 20th Century Men

      1. Michael Bluesky 49 min later

         Deniz Camp is a very exciting new voice in comics. His recent Avengers book ("The Ultimates") has an overt, can't-miss-it collectivist message, and his "Assorted Crisis Events" is my favorite ongoing right now.

         1. Zach Leatherman Bluesky 53 min later

            both of those look incredible — thank you!

5. Jeff Coburn Mastodon 4 min later

   @zachleat
   Batman: The Dark Knight Returns (Frank Miller)

   1. Zach Leatherman Mastodon 9 min later

      @coburnicus thanks!

      1. Eric McCormick Mastodon 6 hr later

         @zachleat @coburnicus I second this recommendation, having just reread it last month.

      2. James Doc Mastodon 22 hr later

         @zachleat @coburnicus I came here to recommend this.

6. Andrew Douglass Mastodon 4 min later

   @zachleat I really enjoyed Transmetropolitan but the creator has been cancelled since then.

   1. Zach Leatherman Mastodon 9 min later

      @ardouglass ah, bummer

7. Patrick Grey Mastodon 4 min later

   @zachleat Cerebus the Aardvark

8. Evil Jim O’Donnell Mastodon 6 min later

   @zachleat Coda, by Si Spurrier and Matias Bergera, is a beautiful comic. I think the first 12 issues are now available in a deluxe collection.

   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coda_(comics)

   1. Evil Jim O’Donnell Mastodon 10 min later

      @zachleat oh, and anything drawn by Christian Ward is usually worth a look. He did a sci-fi series, with G. Willow Wilson, called Invisible Kingdom. I think it won a couple of awards. Now available in one giant collected edition.

      https://www.darkhorse.com/newsfeed/g-willow-wilson-and-christian-wards-multi-eisner-award-winning-and-hugo-nominated-invisible-kingdom-now-collected-in-paperback/

      1. Zach Leatherman Mastodon 16 min later

         @eatyourgreens Perfect, thank you!

   2. Evil Jim O’Donnell Mastodon 1 hr later

      @zachleat Spurrier & Bergara also worked together on Step By Bloody Step, an entirely visual story with no written dialogue.

      https://imagecomics.com/comics/series/step-by-bloody-step

9. Seb Duggan Bluesky 10 min later

   I'm a fan of Bone, by Jeff Smith, although I've not read it for years!

10. Luc Pestille Mastodon 11 min later

    @zachleat Paper Girls, Sex Criminals, Radiant Black.

    1. Zach Leatherman Mastodon 18 min later

       @LucPestille great, thank you!

11. Jake Lazaroff Bluesky 13 min later

    akira is my all time favorite comic, hands down

    100 bullets and the dark knight returns are also great

    dragon ball/dbz are seminal and good reads thru the frieza saga, or even the android saga (kinda lags at the end imo)

    also understanding comics if you want a sort of meta analysis of the medium

    1. Zach Leatherman Bluesky 48 min later

       Thanks!

12. Private reply Bluesky 14 min later
    1. Zach Leatherman Bluesky 50 min later

       awesome, thank you!

13. Jason Grigsby Mastodon 15 min later

    @zachleat What types of stories do you like in non-comic book mediums?

    1. Zach Leatherman Mastodon 24 min later

       @grigs I’m craving good art and unique story lines (which I know is vague) — but I’m hunting for anything to fool my pattern recognition 😅

14. Luis Crespo Bluesky 16 min later

    Moebius, e.g. the Incal series.

    1. Zach Leatherman Bluesky 51 min later

       Nice, thanks!

15. Emmett Bluesky 16 min later

    I bet @anniesexton.com has some thoughts!

    1. Annie Sexton Bluesky 21 min later

       Bitter Root, Paper Girls, Bubble (one-off graphic novel), Sleepless

       1. Zach Leatherman Bluesky 45 min later

          Great list, thank you!

16. Max Fenton Mastodon 17 min later

    @zachleat Really dislike Saga but recommend: Invisibles, Akira, My Favorite Thing is Monsters, The Wicked + The Divine, Starman, and Promethea

    1. Zach Leatherman Mastodon 30 min later

       @maxfenton some really good ones in there, thank you! The art on My Favorite Thing is Monsters is wild!

       1. Max Fenton Mastodon 4 hr later

          @zachleat It's one of the heaviest and best comics I've ever read in a lifetime of reading comics. I saw the author/artist receive an award last year and the things she said hit my soul.

17. Brian LeRoux Bluesky 18 min later

    Lone Wolf and Cub

    1. Zach Leatherman Bluesky 52 min later

       looks great, thank you!

       1. Brian LeRoux Bluesky 5 hr later

          It's epic; the authors/illustrators have a few series worth digging into

18. Stuart Langridge Mastodon 18 min later

    @zachleat Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on Serious Earth
    The Department of Truth
    Lucifer (the Mike Carey series)
    The Incal
    Harleen
    Kingdom Come
    Irredeemable
    (I'd have put V, Watchmen, and Maus high, but you have them already)
    (also there six million billion web comics and many are at least as high quality as those that have been published)
    (also there are some I have and enjoyed reading but the authors have turned out to be arseholes and I don't know how I feel about them now)

    1. Zach Leatherman Mastodon 35 min later

       @sil appreciate the recs, thanks!

19. Amalgam Mastodon 20 min later

    @zachleat been reading lucky Luke, Gaston, and spirou since I was kid so would recommend them for that alone.

    The incal is interesting but maybe not a first read. It’s very… unfocused is maybe the right word

20. Max Fenton Mastodon 23 min later

    @zachleat

    - On A Sunbeam by Tillie Walden https://www.onasunbeam.com/
    - Bodyworld by Dash Shaw (can’t find the webcomic link)
    —
    - The Human Target (Tom King)
    - Ducks (Kate Beaton)
    - Silver Surfer run by Allred and Slott
    - Bone (Jeff Smith)
    - maybe the new Absolute Batman

    1. Zach Leatherman Mastodon 37 min later

       @maxfenton whoa is On a Sunbeam published on the web in its entirety??

       1. Max Fenton Mastodon 4 hr later

          @zachleat Yeah, she posted the whole thing online. I loved it when it was happening. If I remember right she and her dad hand-rolled a static site generator. More comics should be like that. Bodyworld was also fully online (and very vertical) before being bound in a book. A lot of web comics need your specific help (and have probably been getting it for years)

          1. Max Fenton Mastodon 4 hr later

             Ah, I guess Dash Shaw lost his domain name (and site) and settled for a Squarespace but lost the web comic. https://web.archive.org/web/20080212065240/http://www.dashshaw.com/prelude.html

             1. Zach Leatherman Mastodon 4 hr later

                @maxfenton dang, it’d be so easy to make a starter project for this exact use case

                1. Max Fenton Mastodon 4 hr later

                   @zachleat I built a lot of portfolio sites for artists in the late 2000's / early 2010's on stacey, secretary, indexhibit, kirby, etc and portfolios and web comics were really the things great people needed help with that 11ty could ace.

21. Naiyer Mastodon 26 min later

    @zachleat Shall I lure you to read "SpyxFamily", "Beethoven Reborn", and "Warrior Grandpa and Supreme Granddaughter"?

    https://www.viz.com/shonenjump/chapters/spy-x-family
    https://webtoon.kakao.com/content/다시-태어난-베토벤/3945
    https://www.webtoons.com/en/action/warrior-grandpa-and-his-supreme-granddaughter/list?title_no=8953

    1. Zach Leatherman Mastodon 41 min later

       @naiyer I am trying for this be an offline hobby, fwiw 😅

       1. Naiyer Mastodon 1 day later

          @zachleat SpyxFamily is available in print. Too bad you're gonna miss some goofy stuff online...

22. Simon MacDonald Mastodon 33 min later

    @zachleat that's a pretty good list already. I recommend Bone by Jeff Smith and if you have kids it makes a great story to read to them especially if you can do funny voices. Batwoman: Elegy by Ruck and JH Williams III because of the story and sublime art. Pluto by Urasawa for an up to date telling of Tezuka's Astro Boy.

    1. Zach Leatherman Mastodon 43 min later

       @macdonst Thanks! Multiple folks have said Bone!

       1. Simon MacDonald Mastodon 1 hr later

          @zachleat It's soooo good. A trilogy of trilogies that gets more serious as the books progress. If you read them out loud I'd suggest the following voices:

          Fone: your normal voice
          Phoney: Danny Devito
          Smiley: Barney Rubble/Art Carney

          1. Simon MacDonald Mastodon 2 hr later

             @zachleat and I just saw this get posted. https://boingboing.net/2026/06/02/cartoonist-jeff-smith-author-of-bone-is-getting-comics-most-prestigious-honor.html

23. Dave Slusher - Tech Stuff Mastodon 51 min later

    @zachleat I would actually de-prioritize Watchmen. Not because it isn't good but because the context of comic reading is a large part of the story. For example, there is a reason why the panel layout never changes until the very end. If you read it after having consumed more comics, you'll grok it more.

    The Matt Fraction/David Aja Hawkeye run from 10 or 15 years ago is fun and a lot lighter read than your list. The Disney+ show was influenced a lot by that run.

    Your list is good but also some pretty heavy reading. If you care at all about Transformers, my kid loved the recent Image Comics series and those are pretty easy to come by in collections.

    1. Zach Leatherman Mastodon 59 min later

       @geniodiabolico interesting! I’d prefer my comics to be heavier and opinionated, fwiw!

       1. Dave Slusher - Tech Stuff Mastodon 1 hr later

          @zachleat If you're willing to tackle big projects, the Love and Rockets oeuvre is perhaps my favorite of all time. I've been reading since ~1984. There was a storyline in the last 10 years that paid off something planted 30 years previously. Both brother's work is different but each is compelling and has big mythologies.

          1. Zach Leatherman Mastodon 1 hr later

             @geniodiabolico oh my! 30 years!

24. Zach Leatherman Mastodon 55 min later

    I probably have enough recommendations now to last me for a few years 😅 — thank you everyone!

    Compiled a lot of them here, if folks are interested: https://leagueofcomicgeeks.com/profile/zachleat/wish-list

    1. Jason Grigsby Mastodon 2 hr later

       @zachleat FWIW, both Marvel and DC have subscription services that give you access to nearly everything in their back catalog. If I were in your shoes, I'd pick one of them, prioritize books from that publisher and then pick off some indies in addition that you either buy or check out from the library. Then next year, maybe switch to the other publisher and do the same.

       Given Watchmen and Dark Knight Returns are seminal, I'd probably start with the DC sub.

       1. Jason Grigsby Mastodon 2 hr later

          @zachleat Oh, and DC Universe Infinite Ultra (higher tier) includes Vertigo which adds books like Daytripper, Y The Last Man, Preacher, and Fables. More good books than you'll have time for in a year.

          1. Zach Leatherman Mastodon 3 hr later

             @grigs oh, I should have specified that I’m using this as a means to avoid screens — so I’m trying to avoid digital comics (though I may end up there some day)

             1. Jason Grigsby Mastodon 4 hr later

                @zachleat Gotcha. Then the library is your friend. Or at least I hope so. Portland's library has a lot of trade paperbacks.

                I originally moved to digital comics to save physical space. But when I find something I love, I get the collection.

                1. Zach Leatherman Mastodon 4 hr later

                   @grigs yes! our local library has a sizeable comics collection — great call

                   1. Simon MacDonald Mastodon 4 days later

                      @zachleat @grigs this is a great list and my local library saves me at least $1000 a year from all the books I check out.

    2. Tyler Sticka Mastodon 21 hr later

       @zachleat Eeeee so excited for you!! 😱

25. rpbozac.bsky.social Bluesky 57 min later

    The ones I loved (almost 30 years ago...gulp):
    - Tank Girl
    - Sandman

26. kzurawel Mastodon 1 hr later

    @zachleat saw someone else mention it but will put in my vote for Planetary. 20-ish issues, varies between monster-of-the-week and larger overarching story.

    1. Zach Leatherman Mastodon 1 hr later

       @kzurawel nice, yeah!

27. pablolarah Mastodon 1 hr later

    @zachleat
    And here you have for downloading FREE public domain Golden Age Comics.
    #PublicDomain #Comics #GoldenAgeComics

    https://comicbookplus.com/
    https://digitalcomicmuseum.com/

    1. Zach Leatherman Mastodon 1 hr later

       @pablolarah oh, incredible, thank you!

       (fwiw, I am trying to make this an offline hobby)

28. Kristian Kalvå Mastodon 1 hr later

    @zachleat – Hilda
    – Krüger & Krogh

29. CascadingSpace Bluesky 1 hr later

    The Long Halloween (Jeff Loeb, Tim Sale) is an old-school Batman story, its art is so different and the writing is very good, classic detective-style fare! My personal favorite!

30. Philipp Tootloff Mastodon 1 hr later

    @zachleat Gotta reread saga. Got a bunch of its volumes at home

    1. Zach Leatherman Mastodon 3 hr later

       @kleinfreund I’m on the second volume now!

31. Jasper Bluesky 2 hr later

    Aldebaran. Really cool scifi adventure. Also Transmetropolitan and Metabarons, both pretty gory though.
    And possibly Valerian.

32. José Solé Mastodon 2 hr later

    @zachleat Some of these ones are quite intense but they are all memorable and incredible to experience:
    Monster by Naoki Urasawa
    Pluto by Naoki Urasawa
    Jimmy Corrigan, the Smartest Kid on Earth by Chris Ware
    Building Stories by Chris Ware
    Black Hole by Charles Burns
    The 500 years of indigenous resistance comic book by Gord Hill
    100% by Paul Pope
    Uzumaki by Junji Ito

    1. Zach Leatherman Mastodon 3 hr later

       @jmsole some gems there, thank you!

33. Khalid ⚡ Mastodon 3 hr later

    @zachleat if you want a fun short read, this one is really funny and great: https://ifanboy.com/botm/book-of-the-month-afrodisiac/

    Also, Preacher is really good.

34. Will 🎃 Bluesky 4 hr later

    Kill Six Billion Demons is incredible, or Jimmy Corrigan/Quimby Mouse if you're in the mood for something neurotic & bleak

35. ZDL Bluesky 8 hr later

    Transmetropolitan 💯

36. Mike Polowick Bluesky 9 hr later

    100% and Batman 100 by Paul Pope.
    Alias by Brian Michael Bendis.

    1. Zach Leatherman Bluesky 21 hr later

       Thanks!

37. Jeff Posnick Bluesky 10 hr later

    My Favorite Thing is Monsters is pretty remarkable.

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Favo...

    1. Zach Leatherman Bluesky 21 hr later

       awesome yeah! I have that one on my Wishlist!

38. Antoine Mastodon 22 hr later

    @zachleat

    That are not already on your list I'd recommend :

    * The Chimera Brigade
    * The Great Power of the Chninkel
    * The Vagabond of Limbo
    * The Nikopol Trilogy
    * Peter Pan (by Régis Loisel)
    * Universal War One
    * The Metabarons
    * ...

    I'd love to suggest "Les Contes de la Pieuvre" but no english translation afaik (as is unfortunately too common for many Franco-Belgian comics / bandes dessinées)

    Happy readings !

    1. Zach Leatherman Mastodon 1 day later

       @villapirorum these seem like some very deep cuts! 🏆

39. Q. 1994 (He/Him) Bluesky 15 days later

    👇👇👇👇