The Energon Pub

Hi to everyone on these forums!

Just thought I’d share my growing graphic novel collection with everyone on here, these are the books I’ve bought in the last few months or so while I slowly recover from ACL surgery. In addition to these, I’m also having Captain America Omnibus Vol. 1 delivered (fingers crossed) tomorrow, as well as putting in an order for Daredevil Omnibus (the Frank Miller collection, 840 pages or so).

Starting with Marvel:
• Avengers Disassembled (hardcover)
• Captain America: The Chosen (hardcover)
• Captain America: The Death of Captain America Vol. 1 (hardcover)
• Captain America: The Death of Captain America Vol. 2 (hardcover)
• Fallen Son: The Death of Captain America (hardcover)
• Spider-Man: The Birth of Venom
• Spider-Man: Maximum Carnage
• Venom vs. Carnage
• Wolverine: Enemy of the State Ultimate Collection
• Wolverine Evolution
• Thunderbolts: Faith in Monsters
• Peter Parker, Spider-Man: Back in Black
• Secret War
• Marvel Platinum: The Definitive Incredible Hulk
• Marvel Platinum: The Definitive Iron Man
• Deadpool: The Circle Chase and Sins of the Past
• Planet Hulk Omnibus
• World War Hulk Omnibus
• World War Hulk: X-Men
• House of M
• Marvel Masters: The Tales of Chris Claremont
• Marvel Masters: The Art of John Romita Jr
• Marvel Masters: The Tales of Kurt Busiek
• Civil War
• Civil War: Amazing Spider-Man
• Civil War: X-Men
• Civil War: Iron Man
• Civil War: Front Line 1 &2
• Civil War: Wolverine
• Civil War: Fantastic Four
• Civil War: Captain America
• Civil War: X-Men Universe
• Civil War: War Crimes
• Civil War: Marvel Universe
• Civil War: Peter Parker, Spider-Man
• Punisher War Journal: Civil War
• Secret Invasion: The Infiltration


And also a few DC books:
• The Death of Superman
• Batman: Knightfall; Part 1 Broken Bat
• Batman: Knightfall; Part 2 Who Rules the Night
• Batman: The Dark Knight Returns
• Batman: The Long Halloween

And, last but not least:
• Sin City Books 1-7
• 300

Just thought I’d share them with you all, I’m sure there is a bunch of comic book guys on these forums. Most of my friends don’t have the same interest in them that I have so it would be good to get some feedback from fellow fans.

Thanks.

Web Buster wrote:Most of my friends don’t have the same interest in them that I have.

That's a shame, part of the reason we justified the cost of our collection is that our friends would also read them whenever they came over.

And your Civil War collection is just intimidating!

I know, I think I'm only three or four books away from the collection now. Black Panther, Thunderbolts, Young Avengers/Runaways and Road to Civil War are the only ones I've seen that I haven't got (again, yet!).

Some of them are worthwhile, it's great to have a book or event like Civil War that is so groundbreaking that every single character is affected. CW: Iron Man and the What If? books are just brilliant in portraying Tony Stark as someone torn up by his beliefs, especially after what happened to Cap. Punisher is not only well written but so well drawn too.

Anyone got any suggestions for books? I'm now moving into Batman territory after The Long Halloween but don't really have any knowledge of key DC storylines.

Dark Victory is the immediant successor of Long halloween. Its prequel is Year One, which one of Frank Miller's best. Also, for a laugh, try "All-star Batman and Robin the Boy Wonder," which is his worst.
Also, some essential DC:

Crisis on Infinite Earths (AKA the greatest retcon ever)

Infinite Crisis (The sequel to crisis on infinite earths)

The Killing Joke (a favorite story of Heath ledger's)

Watchmen (soon to be major motion picture)

Joker's Last Laugh

The Man Who Laughs

Sinestro Corps War/Tales of the Sinestro Corps

Also, I really liked Marvel 1602. But then again, I'm that one nerd who pays attention a lot in history class, so I thought it was neat.

Web Buster wrote:Anyone got any suggestions for books?

I'm an ultimates fanatic. I've go vol 1-19 of U:Spider-Man, 1-18 U:X-Men, 1-6 U:FF4, all of Ultimates I & II and Ultimate Galactus, and more.

I highly recommend you try vol 1 of Ultimate Spider-Man or Ultimate X-Men if you want to get a feel for the universe.

If you want to stay 616, Shehulk is hilarious.

And once you've gotten a bit of background in DC, Kingdom Come is a moral imperative. Marvel's Earth X series was good, but DC:KC was better.

JaAm wrote:Also, I really liked Marvel 1602. But then again, I'm that one nerd who pays attention a lot in history class, so I thought it was neat.

It was very good - brilliant, creative writing and pretty artwork - and 1602: New World is a decent follow up, especially if the lack of Hulk, Spider-Man, and Iron-Man in the first book disappointed you. 1602: Fantastick Four not as much.

Edit:

Outside of Marvel/DC, I've been enjoying all of the IDW Transformers comics, especially their primary storyline (Infiltration through All Hail), BTVS:Season 8, Angel & Spike: After the Fall, and Star Wars: Legacy.

Franklin Richards: Son of a Genius (a Calvin & Hobbes spoof) and Deadpool: Secret Invasion are good for a chuckle.

As far as recomendations go, I would say anything with Deadpool, but I'm a pretty hardcore fan. As in I currently have every issue of Cable and Deadpool in my dorm room.

And in regards to your collection... can I come over to your house?

Seroiusly, that is one awesome collection. Honestly the only thing there that I would pass on is Avengers Disassembled. I hated that arc, still do.

I try to update my Comic Shop Trip thread but I've busy recently. Expect a long winded update.

But off the top of my head, the Azzarello/Bermejo Joker graphic novel is pretty stunning.

I tried keeping count once of my collection. I failed at it. There's just too much.

Thanks for all the replies people, I've had a pretty hectic week of physio so been nowhere near the computer to respond! Learning to walk again is such a bitch!

@ JaAm: Thanks for all the suggestions pal, Dark Victory and Batman: Year One were on my radar already and I'm looking in to ordering them when I get paid next. They'll probably go into the order for Punisher: War Journal Vol. 2 & 3 I have ready to check out, and I might add The Killing Joke too. I'mm going to stay off the Crisis storylines until I get some more background on DC characters otherwise I'll truly get lost, I'm so hardcore Marvel you wouldn't believe!

@ Caelus: One day I'll get into the Ultimate line from Marvel, but I spent 9 years collected Spider-Man 616 that i can't get my head around reseting the whole franchise (don't get me started on Brand New Day either). It just stinks of trying to get more money out of new fans hooked on the Spider-Man films who want to carry on seeing a teen with spider-powers instead of the character who's spent 40 years maturing. I'm ranting. One day I'll check them out but it just appeal to me right now.

@ Blastback: Cheers buddy, you're welcome anytime! Deadpool is an ace character, almost a mix of Spider-Man and Wolverine in my eyes. He's very prominent in Civil War: X-Men Universe when him and Cable are at odds, plus I've got The Circle Chase and Sins of the Past in one book. And I agree with Avengers Disassembled too, the main book reads too fast and almost rushes through until the twist. Sometimes it's the one-shot books that make a longer lasting impression than 8 issue "events". House of M and Civil War rule though.

Carry on inputting guys, I've finished the Captain America Omnibus and it's some seriously great work from Brubaker & co (although Civil War: Captain America is contained in there too, making that book worthless to me). Wolverine: Enemy of the State is a great example of a well written AND well drawn Wolverine storyline too.

Last thing, here's all the books in the flesh for everyone:
http://s93.photobucket.com/albums/l41/n ... 010129.jpg

looks like you have a lot of comic books but how many women have truly loved you?

Mephalarse wrote:looks like you have a lot of comic books but how many women have truly loved you?

Goodbye.

Guess I don't need to send you a message.

TheMuffin wrote:Guess I don't need to send you a message.

I was getting ready to send you a message about that

Someone sent me a text (think it was Fender Bender).

Mephalarse wrote:looks like you have a lot of comic books but how many women have truly loved you?

I REALLY wanted to retaliate to this but it seems the mods have already. Saves a few naughty words and my blood pressure I guess...

Awesome collection.

Web Buster wrote:

Mephalarse wrote:looks like you have a lot of comic books but how many women have truly loved you?

I REALLY wanted to retaliate to this but it seems the mods have already. Saves a few naughty words and my blood pressure I guess...

Taking the high road keeps intelligent people like you on the board and keeps guys like him away.

Ah hell, I'll post my graphic novel collection, just for kicks

-300
-1602
-24 Hour comics All-Star collection
-Astrix & The Magic carpet
-Batman: dark victory
-Batman: Harley & Ivy
-Batman: The Long Halloween
-Batman: the Killing joke
-Batman: year One
-Batman: Arkham Asylum: Serious Place on Serious Earth
-Batman: Dark Knight Returns
-Blankets
-Bone: One volume Edition
-Cerebus vol. 01
-Cerebus vol. 02
-Cerebus vol. 03
-Cerebus vol. 04
-Cerebus vol. 05
-Cerebus vol. 06
-Cerebus vol. 07
-Cerebus vol. 08
-Cerebus vol. 09
-Cerebus vol. 10
-Cerebus vol. 11
-Cerebus vol. 12
-Cerebus vol. 13
-Cerebus vol. 14
-Cerebus vol. 15
-Cerebus vol. 16
-Civil War: Marvel Universe
-Civil War
-Crossing Midnight vol. 01: Crossing Line
-Crossing Midnight vol. 02: cut here
-Death: High cost of living
-Death: The time of your life
-Doom
-Essential Dr. Strange vol. 01
-Essential Dr. Strange vol. 02
-Essential Dr. Strange vol. 03
-Dr. Strange: Shamballa
-Dr. Strange/Dr. Doom: Triumph and torment
-Elektra: Assassin
-Eternals (signed by John Romita Jr!!!!)
-Fantastic Four: Books of Doom
-Fantastic Four: Civil War
-Essential Fantastic Four vol. 01
-Hench
-I go Pogo
-Identity Crisis
-Iron Man: Avengers dissassembled
-Iron Man: Mask in the Iron Man
-Iron Man: Inevitable
-Essential Iron Man vol. 01
-Essential Iron Man vol. 02
-Essential Iron Man vol. 03
-Essential Moon Knight vol. 01
-New Avengers vol. 01: Breakout
-New Avengers vol. 02: Sentry
-New Mutants Classic vol. 01
-Runaways vol 01: Pride and Joy
-Runaways vol 02: Teenage Wasteland
-Sandman vol. 01: Preludes and Nocturnes
-Sandman vol. 02: Doll's House
-Sandman vol. 03: Dream Country
-Sandman vol. 04: Season of Mists
-Sandman vol. 05: A Game of you
-Sandman vol. 06: Fables & Reflections
-Sandman vol. 07: Brief Lives
-Sandman vol. 08: World's End
-Sandman vol. 09: The Kindly Ones
-Sandman vol. 10: The Wake
-Sandman vol. 11: Endless Nights
-Spider-Man: Hooky
-Street Fighter Ultimate Edition vol. 01
-Superman: Red son
-Swamp Thing vol. 01: Saga of the Swamp Thing
-Swamp Thing vol. 02: Love & Death
-Swamp Thing vol. 03: The Curse
-Swamp Thing vol. 04: A Murder of Crows
-Swamp Thing vol. 05: Earth to Earth
-Swamp Thing vol. 06: Reunion
-Essential Tomb of Dracula vol. 01
-Essential Tomb of Dracula vol. 02
-Essential Tomb of Dracula vol. 03
-Essential Tomb of Dracula vol. 04
-Transformers: Infiltration
-Transformers: Escalation
-Transformers: Megatron Origins
-Transformers: Stormbringer
-Transformers: Spotlight vol. 01
-Transformers: Beast Wars Sourcebook
-Transformers G1: Prime directive
-Transformers G1: War & Peace
-Ultimate Daredevil & Elektra
-Ultimate Fantastic Four vol. 01
-Ultimate Fantastic Four vol. 02
-Ultimate Fantastic Four vol. 03
-Ultimate Fantastic Four vol. 03
-Ultimate Fantastic Four vol. 04
-Ultimate Fantastic Four vol. 05
-Ultimate Fantastic Four vol. 06
-Ultimate Fantastic Four/X-Men
-Ultimate Galactus vol. 01: Nightmare
-Ultimate Iron Man vol. 01
-Ultimates vol. 01: Superhuman
-Ultimates vol. 02: Homeland Security
-Ultimates 2 vol. 01: Gods and Monsters
-Ultimates 2 vol. 02: Grand Theft America
-V For Vendetta
-Watchmen: Absolute Edition
-Witchblade: Witch hunt
-Wolverine: Enemy of the State
-Wolverine: Enemy of the State vol. 02
-Essential Wolverine vol. 01
-Essential X-Men vol. 01
-Essential X-Men vol. 02
-Essential X-Men vol. 03
-Essential X-Men vol. 04
-Essential X-Men vol. 05
-Essential X-Men vol. 06
-Essential X-Men vol. 07
-Y: The Last Man vol. 01
-Y: The Last Man vol. 02
-Y: The Last Man vol. 03
-Y: The Last man vol. 04
-Y: The Last Man vol. 05
-Y: The Last Man vol. 06


that's about everything, there's probably a book or three that I've left out.

From your collection I take that your a card carrying Marvel Zombie?
I suggest you try the Hellboy Library edition, Mignola's work reads so much better in a large format.

My brother has an enormous graphic novel collection. Too many to bother listing, anyways.

Cyber-Kun wrote:Cerebus

My brother was reading that since issue one. I always found it odd that having bought all the comics since they came out, he also started buying the collected works soon after. Which reminds me that I should give it another go - I haven't read it in years, and I remember loving it when I was a kid

Amelie wrote:My brother has an enormous graphic novel collection. Too many to bother listing, anyways.

Cyber-Kun wrote:Cerebus

My brother was reading that since issue one. I always found it odd that having bought all the comics since they came out, he also started buying the collected works soon after. Which reminds me that I should give it another go - I haven't read it in years, and I remember loving it when I was a kid

It's funny, I'm working an internship with Dave Sim, the creator of Cerebus, its fantastic

Some great comics mentioned so far, Im gonna go over some again whilst poping in some new ones if yo don't mind

Wolverine: Enemy of the State - best wolverine i've ever read

Batman in reading order;
Year One
The Man Who Laughths - there was another great Joker origin in Batman Confidential 7-12
Long Halloween
Dark Victory
Nightfall 1&2 and you can't leave out NightsEnd
Arkham Asylum
The Killing Joke
Cataclysm and No Mans Lands 1-5 deserves a mention
Dark Knight Returns
and The Dark Knight Stikes Again! are all must reads for any Batfan

Jeph Leob and Tim Sale's (the guys who did Long Halloween)
Hulk- Grey, Spiderman - Blue and Superman for all seasons were all brilliant, they also did Daredevil - yellow which I havent read yet

Now on to the good stuff!

Swamp Thing - This has simply GOT to be read- it changed the way I read comics -Don't be put off by the 'dated' style! and you can't mention Swamp Thing without mentioning
John Constantine - Hellblazer -Don't be put off by the awful keanu Reeves film!

The Sandman - after reading Swamp Thing I didn't think comics could get much better, little did I know what Neil Gaiman had in store for me, Matthew the raven or Mervyn Pumpkinhead anyone? Cluracan!!
*just decided that Im gonna have to read that again*
againt you can't mention The Sandman without bringing up
LUCIFER another Must Read

also be sure to check out Preacher, it has such wonderfull charachters such as Arseface, The saint of Killers and the completely **** ed up L'Angelle family

Hellboy, BRPD and any other spin-offs- everyone must know how good this is

Brian K. Vaughan's Ex Machina and Y: The Last Man are definitely worth reading as is The Walking Dead and the Marvel Zombies

I could go on all day, but really I want to stress how good the bolded comics are if only one person goes and pics up one of these comics it will be worth all the time spent typing and re-typing (I only went and clicked something half way through)

oh and whats Cerebus? you seem to have the same taste in comics as I do Cyber-Kun, whats it all about? I have to confess I've never even heard of it

Cyberstrike's graphic novel recommendations:

Harbinger: The Beginning Forget the X-Men. Forget the Teen Titans. Read Harbinger Jim Shooter shows that he was 20 years ahead of everybody else in a series about teenage heroes who a battle a Toyo Harada, a powerful business man who wants to rule the world. The character's are presented as teenagers who make mistakes,
raging hormones, don't always win, and act very real. The artist Dave Lapham, is on the level of a Bryan Hitch or John Cassidy in terms of detail and design (and he can make deadlines).

Miracleman-The 4 TPBs: vol.1-A Dream of Flying, vol.2-The Red King Syndrome, vol.3-Olympus, and vol.4-The Golden Age will cost you a lot of money but they're worth it. I honestly prefer Miracleman over Watchmen (which is a great read too) because Alan Moore holds nothing back and in vol.4 Neil Gaiman shows how talented he is.

Camelot 3000 This is very overlooked graphic novel which is a shame not only does is it 12 issues of Brian Bolland penicls it's a kick ass series to boot. Written by Mike W. Barr it tells the story of King Arthur and Knights of the Round Table return in the year 3000 as Earth is overran by aliens and the Knights return in some very weird forms. The first official 12 issue maxi-series ever published by DC this is also probably the first mainstream major comic book to have a lesbian kiss in it.

Ronin Before The Dark Knight Returns Frank Miller told the story of a Ronin who kills a demon and when the two are reborn in a NYC that has seen its better days you know all Hell is about to break lose. Some of Miller's best and unusual art.

John Byrne's Next Men I don't recommend IDW's black and white omnibus style tpb instead buy the single issues or the Dark Horse tpbs that show the work in full color. Like him or hate him John Byrne is a legend and IMHO this is his greatest masterpiece a gripping, complex, realistic, take on super-heroes that showed why Byrne is a legend. Byrne takes on a lot topics: abuse, teenage pregnancy, abortion, religion, STDs, racism, and the decline of the comic book industry and still manges to tell a gripping and exciting story. The reason I don't recommend the IDW B&W tpb is that art looks very faded (in some cases it looks like the printer was low on ink) and just bland.

Archer & Armstrong: First Impressions Before Cable & Deadpool. Before Quantum & Woody there was Archer and Armstrong two characters that couldn't be more different. Archer a young super-hero whose parents murdered him given a second chance by God (or by the fire department depending on your POV) travels to Himalayas and learns how to use his powers and when he returns to the states he meets Armstrong a down on his luck 9,998 year old immortal with super strength who would rather get drunk in a bar than fight the good fight, Armstrong is also being chased by the Sect, a religious order that thinks Armstrong is the devil. Then Armstrong's old brother shows up and the adventure really begins. A funny and crazy series that only Barry Windsor-Smith could do right.

X-O Manowar: Birth What do you get when you mix Conan and Iron Man together? You get X-O Manowar. The story of Aric a Visigoth Warrior who is abducted by Spider-like Aliens. He escapes from them by stealing a living Manowar battle suit, that Aric calls "good skin"
but when returns to Earth he finds himself in the 1990s and he must learn how to adjust to a very different world.

Wolverine and Havoc: Meltdown A violent story of a vacation that Wolverine and Havoc are taking that goes down the drain.

Between my real world collection and my *ahem* digital collection I have far too many comic books, trades, and graphic novels to keep track of. I'll just list a bunch that I feel are required reading. I'm not going to give the reasons why, as for the most part that gives away spoilers. Just trust me on what I post.

The Sandman (the entire series)
Crisis on Infinite Earths
Kree/Skrull War
Silver Surfer: Rebirth Of Thanos
Infinity Gauntlet
Infinity War
Sinestro Corps War
Watchmen
The Dark Knight Returns
Grendal: War Child
Maus (also known as Maus: A Survivor's Tale - My Father Bleeds History)
Batman: The Killing Joke
The Marvel Zombies Collections (all of them are epic win)
Swamp Thing (The Alan Moore run)
Animal Man Vol. #1-3 (Grant made him awesome and forever one of my favorite mid level heroes)
Teen Titans: The Judas Contract (it works best if you've read the precending storylines that introduced Terra. The plot twists have maximum effect that way)
Arkham Asylum: Living Hell (I'm not sure if it's been collected but it's one of the best Batman stories that focus on his villains. The Bat only makes a cameo at the end. Don't let that fool you though. This is one of the best stories I've read of his Rogue's Gallery)
Flash Rogues War and Countdown to Final Crisis: Rogues Revenge get honorable mentions. Because the Rogues need their own damn book.
Planet Hulk
Inhumans: Culture Shock

I'll either edit this post or make another one if I remember anything else that is a great Graphic Novel/Trade that is worth reading.

Mephalarse wrote:looks like you have a lot of comic books but how many women have truly loved you?

More then my fair share have screamed out my name like Godless heathens does that count?

Awesomeness.
I used to collect Spider-Man comics the individuals that was until Marvel decided to rape everything I loved about Spider-Man.

So the only Graphic novels I have are as follows:
Spider-Man Maximum Carnage
Spider-Man birth of Venom (German version)
Venom Lethal Protector (German version)
Carnage's birth (German version)
Venom The Madness and Vs Punisher (German version
Venom vs Carnage (German version)
Toxin The Devil you know (German version)
Marvel Zombies hardback
House of M Spider-Man (German version)
Spider-Man Reign (crappy character changing translated German version)
Marvel 1602 Part 1 and 2 (German Version)
Marvel 1602 volume2 (German version)
Spider-Man Dock Ock year one (German version)

I'm sure there are more I just can't think of them now.

chronic wrote:
oh and whats Cerebus? you seem to have the same taste in comics as I do Cyber-Kun, whats it all about? I have to confess I've never even heard of it

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cerebus

Cerebus the Aardvark is one of the first independent comics made, in the early 70s, and is currently the longest graphic novel (6000 pages), done by 2 guys, Dave Sim and Gerhard, Sim doing the writing and characters. It's hailed as one of the finest comics made, and spearheaded the independent comics. Without it and Dave Sim, we would never had read Spawn, Ninja Turtles or Savage Dragon. We do seem to have similar tastes in comics, I love anything by Gaiman (I hear he's doing a Batman story soon!!!!!) and Alan Moore (I noticed you didn't mention Watchmen, ever read it?)
And yes, Swamp Thing is spectuacular, did you ever read beyond vol 6 when it wasn't written by Moore anymore? I never did, and didn't know if it was worth picking up