Hey does anyone here read some of the american comics these days and if so what?
I am currently reading John Romita's run on Wolverine which is awesome as well as Joss Whedon's Astonishing X-men, which is frankly the best thing since the Claremont-Byrne run of the old day's.
Oh yes please do not post in here to say how much you hate the american comic industry that isn't really why I started this.
This could take a while…..
Girl Genius - GREAT book
Powers
The Ultimates
Ultimate Fantastic Four
Fables
Usagi Yojimbo
30 Days of Night
The Goon
303
Marvel Knights 4
The Walking Dead
Incredible Hulk
Gold Digger
Ninja High School
We3
PS238
Rising Stars
Supreme Power
Astonishing X-Men
There are a half dozen books I am testing out and I'm sure there are a half dozen I have forgotten.
It is really nice to meet you. I really like Ultimates also I picked up issue three the other day and the ending was really great.
I used to read the Sonic the Hedgehog comic, but I stopped when I got into One Piece.
I don't read Superman regularly, but I have a couple compilations of Superman comics.
Pirate Age (Under Construction)
New X-Men
X-Treme X-Men
Mystique
Fathom Dawn of War
Transformers G1
Current series:
Astonishing
Uncanny
New
Excalibur series 2
Nightcrawler
Collecting:
Excalibur series 1
Special note: My copy of the first Excalibur one-shot, The Sword is Drawn, is signed by artist Alan Davis. It's the prize of my collection. I am so proud of that book. fangirl squee!
Yeah, I'm an X-weenie. What can I say? XD
\\
Well, I used to read anything related to X-Men, but I kind of lost interest as the plot line(s) became more and more strange. (In my opinion, anyways.)
Now, the only American comic I read is Elfquest.
Death is a small thing
Methinks it is life which thou dost fear
David Eddings
Sorceress of Darshiva
I don't read much comics, but I am a huge fan of Mike Mignola & the Hellboy series. I can't wait for The Book of the Dead from Mignola in April. Been a while since he has done anything since the movie.
Could somebody recommend good art or underground comics worth of acquiring ? Well, superhero comics are fine as well. I read a work by Frank Miller and I enjoyed it but I'm not going to order random books from overseas without knowing the quality. For example is there anyting that could rival with the contents of IKKI magazine. I heard Strangers in Paradise is nice.
Originally posted by Bloodfoot@Feb 13 2005, 11:12 AM
**Current series:
Astonishing
Uncanny
New
Excalibur series 2
NightcrawlerCollecting:
Excalibur series 1Special note: My copy of the first Excalibur one-shot, The Sword is Drawn, is signed by artist Alan Davis. It's the prize of my collection. I am so proud of that book. fangirl squee!
Yeah, I'm an X-weenie. What can I say? XD
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The X-books are good fun. I fell out of them during a tight budget stretch when they had one of those enormogigantical crossovers where you have to buy 20 books a week to keep caught up. I keep wanting to get back in but am afraid to take the plunge.
And ANYthing signed by Alan Davis is cool! I wish I had something like that in my collection. My prizes are a nice sketch by Dave Sim and Gerhard in the first color Cerebus appearance (took three conventions for them to finish it out :lol: ) and a few cards and comics signed by Phil and Kaja Foglio. Nobody big but people whose work I respect a lot.
Originally posted by Yoska@Feb 13 2005, 12:00 PM
Could somebody recommend good art or underground comics worth of acquiring ? Well, superhero comics are fine as well. I read a work by Frank Miller and I enjoyed it but I'm not going to order random books from overseas without knowing the quality. For example is there anyting that could rival with the contents of IKKI magazine. I heard Strangers in Paradise is nice.
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What sort of book are you looking for? Funny, serious, action packed? Lots of great stuff out there to suggest if you help me narrow down the list.
Originally posted by Daydreamer@Feb 13 2005, 12:18 PM
Well, I used to read anything related to X-Men, but I kind of lost interest as the plot line(s) became more and more strange. (In my opinion, anyways.)
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Yeah, I'm in the same boat. I used to be mad into X-Men, but the storyline just lost me around Onslaught. I know it's gotten better, but it's still hard to pull yourself back into it.
Right now, I'm collecting ultimate X-Men because I really love Joss Weadon's writing style. I only wish it had more of my favorite characters in it - the characters are one of the best things about X-men!
I used to read lots of American comics, but I quit for a couple of years. I'm just now getting back into them though (when I bought both volumes of the Jim Lee Batman "Hush" hardcover books). But mostly, I read older backissues.
Johnny the Homicidal Maniac, Squee, and anything else by Jhonen Vasquez cuz he rules
my CD, THE GLASS, is now available on the iTunes Music Store!!
You can also get it from [CD Baby](http://www.cdbaby.com/maxmiller<br />)
Become my friend on
Originally posted by PirateFetus V.2@Feb 13 2005, 04:13 PM
Johnny the Homicidal Maniac, Squee, and anything else by Jhonen Vasquez cuz he rules
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The Bad Art Collection is possibly the funniest (and most disturbing?) thing I have ever read. Wrong in so many ways.
hell yes.
"LOOK WHAT YOU'VE DONE TO MY NUTSACK!!!"
"Them's ain't no ordinary taters, son… let's run!"
I used to be waaaay more into US comics than I am currently, mostly due to lack of funds and access to a decent comic book shop. I LOVE Ultimate Spider-Man, love it with a passion, as well as Brubaker's run on Catwoman (I haven't read any of the stuff by the new guy, but frankly the only reason I was still buying it after Gulacy came on as the penciller was because of Brubaker's writing– I hate Gulacy's pencils). I'll pick up the odd Batman title, and Birds of Prey is consistantly well-written and highly enjoyable. I used to be really heavily into X-Men, but like SetaGinny, they lost me around Onslaught and I just haven't really been able to get back into it. I was happy when they brought back Rachel Summers (one of my all-time favorite characters) but she looks horrible right now and I have no idea what's going on with her powers and it's very confusing. Sigh. I'm also MADLY in love with Mignola's Hellboy series and highly reccomend it to anyone-- it's fantastic. The Pulse is also pretty good, but then I'll read just about anything by Brian Michael Bendis. Powers is really good, but I'm so far behind on it I may as well not even list it. Oh, and the miniseries of Batgirl Year One is frickin' AWESOME, pick it up if you can find it! (There's a trade out for it, but I'd reccomend getting the loose issues if you can find them, the story works better if you're thinking of them as seperate issues for some reason.) One of my all-time faves. I like stuff by Slave Labor Graphics, too, like Johnny the Homicidal Maniac and Lenore-- I Feel Sick is probably my favorite of them, but it won't make much sense unless you've read Johnny. Oh, and 1602 by Neil Gaiman was really good, too, give that a read if you get the chance. And there's a bunch of good stuff out there in the independant presses, too. Flight is a book that has some work done by some friends of mine who are INSANELY talented-- check it out, it's put out by Image. And, yeah, I'll shaddup now. ;)
--Bevin
I feel sick rocks
btw, NEW FILLERBUNNY BOOK SOON!
Pirate Fetus - I had to go bust out my copy of BAC and just sat giggling over it for a few minutes. Truly a guilty pleasure. And I can't wait for more Fillerbunny.
Bevin - Batgirl Year One was excellent! Sadly it made me go back to re-read Killing Joke again. sigh Exceptional book, but so damn sad. Alan Moore rules almost as much as Bendis.
I Feel Sick was probably the best thing JV has done. I love everything I have read from him but I Feel Sick was something more than the normal fare. Great covers too.
And I have the squeaky Spooky toy at my desk at work! Lil' Spooky sits right next to Great Cthulhu on my toy shelf. I can get away with it because computer geeks are supposed to have geeky toys (though people always ask me why I have no Star Trek stuff).
I used to read Sonic when I was a kid, then I realized it was pretty dumb and stopped. And I'm glad I did after hearing what happened in the comics after I stopped following them.
I don't read a lot of American comics, but I do like DC a lot.
Too bad American comics really aren't what they used to be.
Before getting into manga, I was a pretty big X-Men fan. I eventually got frustrated and gave that up thanks to countless plot holes from constantly changing writers and having to buy 7 or 8 different books a month to keep up with the continuity. Like a couple others mentioned, it was the whole Onslaught fiasco that finally drove me over the edge.
However, there are still some American series I love. First and foremost is Transmetropolitan, followed closely by Watchmen and Preacher. All three of which are over at this point, but I still reread them constantly. I've also been getting a bit into Marvel's Ultimate line (particularly Ultimate Spidey and a it of Ultimate X-Men), as, for the moment, it lacks most of the things that caused me to seek other sources of entertainment years ago.
Originally posted by Funkmaster Carter@Feb 13 2005, 06:41 PM
**I don't read a lot of American comics, but I do like DC a lot.Too bad American comics really aren't what they used to be.
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In my opinion they aren't bad, you just have to know where to look right now. Actually in the last year or so I think the industry has been putting out some of the best stuff in years.
If you are a DC fan I would suggest you look into Identity Crisis if you can still find the issue's or pick up the trade paperback when it comes out. It is really a great piece of work for any fan of the classic Justice League.
I also notice a lot of people have said that they stopped reading Xmen and now what you mean, however I would say that Uncanny Xmen and Astonishing Xmen have both been really superb.
Hmm, I'm not into American comics that much, but I do have an interest in a few of the series (or their tv show counterparts anyways).
Originally posted by VildaHawk@Feb 13 2005, 07:13 AM
I used to read the Sonic the Hedgehog comic, but I stopped when I got into One Piece.
I don't read Superman regularly, but I have a couple compilations of Superman comics.
Sonic the Hedgehog comic eh? You must show me the way.
For a while now, I wanted to start up X-Men, like the one 90's cartoon I saw a while back, or at least read a good summary of it. Any idea where I can find a summary of some of the arcs that happen in it? Or….. some of the..... 'subseries' of it?
Originally posted by Rasengan Zero@Feb 13 2005, 11:44 PM
For a while now, I wanted to start up X-Men, like the one 90's cartoon I saw a while back, or at least read a good summary of it. Any idea where I can find a summary of some of the arcs that happen in it? Or….. some of the..... 'subseries' of it?
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Kinda off topic…but yeah, back in the day, I used to read a lot of the arcs that were based off the 90s cartoon (the cartoon is actually what drew me in initially.) The Phoenix and Dark Phoenix sagas were very much like they were in the cartoon, just different characters, and you can get graphic novels for them today. The episode about Rogue's friend Cody was roughly based off the Rogue mini-series, while the episode about Gambit's wife Belladonna was roughly based off the Gambit mini-series...both were much better then their TV counterpart. Uh...hmm. A lot of the tensions and stuff with Jean and Wolverine can be seen in the early X-Men issues...Like the first dozen or so. Same with Gambit and Rogue. And the Age of the Apocolypse storyarc with Bishop that was like...two episodes in the cartoon was fucking AWESOME in the comics. Every X-Men title turned to a alternate universe for four issues, and it was a great story. Definitely worth checking out.
Monty/Madgopher can probably tell you more.
PS - Erg. Got a little carried away scratches the back of her head. I just realized you wanted summaries - but if you do a search for those series/arcs, you should be set. Although, I highly recommend reading them. I mean, if I am recommending them, that should say something - I am not the American comic person in my relationship whistles
Originally posted by Rasengan Zero@Feb 13 2005, 10:44 PM
For a while now, I wanted to start up X-Men, like the one 90's cartoon I saw a while back, or at least read a good summary of it. Any idea where I can find a summary of some of the arcs that happen in it? Or….. some of the..... 'subseries' of it?
[snapback]1858[/snapback]
Alright go out to Walden Books and pick up Essential Xmen volume one and start from there. This is the beginning of the Chris Claremont run on Xmen and it is some good stuff. It is in black and white but you get like twenty five issues for about fourteen bucks, which is what they usually charge for seven color issue trade paperbacks. Trust me it is an awesome read and all in all there are five of them. The first one has the Phoenix saga in it, if it helps.
_Originally posted by normyk+Feb 13 2005, 04:04 PM–>QUOTE(normyk @ Feb 13 2005, 04:04 PM)Bevin - Batgirl Year One was excellent! Sadly it made me go back to re-read Killing Joke again. sigh Exceptional book, but so damn sad. Alan Moore rules almost as much as Bendis.
Oh yeah, Killing Joke is an excellent read as well, but defenetely not as a fun way to kill a bit of time. It's upsetting and poses a ratther difficult question to the audience that the book itself never answers. Excellent read. But, as you said, damn sad. Alan Moore is awesome, I can't believe I forgot to put the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen down (not to mention From Hell). Not very similar to the movie, very much more in keeping with the literary sources the characters hail from and very engaging. I like it quite a lot.
@Feb 13 2005, 04:04 PM
I Feel Sick was probably the best thing JV has done. I love everything I have read from him but I Feel Sick was something more than the normal fare. Great covers too._
_Yeah, I agree. I like all the stuff I've read by JV, but I Feel Sick was… well it was pretty much the most layered writing he'd done to date and I loved that it was in color. I just really liked that one, and Devi kicks ass. ;)
--Bevin_
BATMAN
he is the best
along with joker and all the other awsom vilans all running around gotham
I am now on DevantART so come cheak out my art i demand it of you :laugh:
Originally Posted by the ONION
"We believe that Google Desktop Search is the best way to unlock the information hidden on your hard drive, if you haven't given it a try, now's the time. In one week, the deleting begins." ~Google CEO Eric Schmidt
Holy crap, I just remembered a few titles that I totally forgot about. Shame on me.
Cable & Deadpool (everyone must see the issue where DP wears the original Marvel Girl costume. DP pantyshot = gold.)
Hellboy/BPRD
Originally posted by normyk@Feb 13 2005, 07:33 PM
What sort of book are you looking for? Funny, serious, action packed? Lots of great stuff out there to suggest if you help me narrow down the list.
I'm omnivorous, everything good goes. But perhaps saying somewhat sophisticated content would be the best, something you could keep on your bookshell without feeling yourself cheap. Most of the Marver stuff are turn off but I have enjoyed some works of Frank Miller and Alan Moore.
I can't believe I forgot to list some of my true favorites.
Hellboy/BPRD (especially love Mignola's art - got hooked back when he did a Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser mini series for DC - the art on it knocked my socks off and was thrilled later on when I saw him get his own book - I wasn't sure a style like his could survive in a world of superhero books)
League of Extraordinary Gentlement (preferred the first series to the second)
Buck Godot: Zap Gun For Hire (more of Phil and Kaja Foglio - love them so much - only thing they've done that I don't completely dig is XXXenophile because the 'adult' comics thing never really held a whole lot of appeal for me).
Boneyard (and by the same guy we have Far East which is also fun)
Blue Monday (good good fun)
LOVE FIGHTS! (read this everybody - the trade - I think - is out and is a must read)
Great comics that died before their time:
SCUD: The Disposable Assassin
Very Vicky
Boondoggle
Originally posted by Bloodfoot@Feb 14 2005, 08:39 AM
**Holy crap, I just remembered a few titles that I totally forgot about. Shame on me.Cable & Deadpool (everyone must see the issue where DP wears the original Marvel Girl costume. DP pantyshot = gold.)
Hellboy/BPRD
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Hmm I started reading Cable & Deadpool when it first came out but I went through budget constraints and I really don't like Cable so I stopped buying it but maybe I will have to check out the tradepaperback.
I read Cable and Deadpool for a while, too, and while I didn't find Cable nearly as irritating as I once had, I'd still rather just read Deadpool. Another title that fell by the wayside in my financial constraints.
–Bevin
If you spoiler me, I will eat you with tater tots.
Originally posted by bevin@Feb 14 2005, 11:20 AM
**I read Cable and Deadpool for a while, too, and while I didn't find Cable nearly as irritating as I once had, I'd still rather just read Deadpool. Another title that fell by the wayside in my financial constraints.–Bevin
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Yeah I agree. I loved the original Deadpool series when Ed Mcguiness was drawing it. I don't know who was writing it but he was pretty funny.
I've lost patience with Cable & Deadpool as well. Seems a waste of a fun character. Been following him since the Joe Madureira mini back in the day. That was some classic stuff. I have a sinking feeling Cable & Deadpool will die a quick and painful death.
Oh, I forgot that I still follow Fred Perry's Gold Digger from Antarctic Press. Even though it is drawn in a manga style, it's still an American comic book.
Joe Madureira…he was always one of my favorite artists. What does he do now? I know he quit Battle Chasers a long time ago. Then he was going to make a video game company (called Tri-lunar). I haven't heard much about him since though (except for covers/pinups for the Street Fighter and Darkstalkers comics). Does he draw a regular comic anymore?
I read…
Excalibur
Cable & Deadpool
New X-Men: Academy X
And I was reading Madrox while it was out, but it's over now unfortunately. I read Excalibur religiously, and I love the series. I read Cable & Deadpool mainly because Anaconda is appearing in it for the mo' (although I'll probably still read it after she leaves). And New X-Men is my guilty pleasure that I just got into, and I don't really obsess over it or anything, I just read it.
Originally posted by Captain Kuro@Feb 14 2005, 08:11 PM
**Oh, I forgot that I still follow Fred Perry's Gold Digger from Antarctic Press. Even though it is drawn in a manga style, it's still an American comic book.Joe Madureira…he was always one of my favorite artists. What does he do now? I know he quit Battle Chasers a long time ago. Then he was going to make a video game company (called Tri-lunar). I haven't heard much about him since though (except for covers/pinups for the Street Fighter and Darkstalkers comics). Does he draw a regular comic anymore?
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Who knows what he is doing…when I think about him I just get pissed off cause he was someone with so much talent and he just couldn't be bothered to make his deadline's once he left marvel. It was like he really didn't care about it. To be honest I think J. Scott Campbell is a much better artist.
I used to collect X-Men about 10 years ago. But ever since the whole Onslaught mess, I don't touch the comic. It's not that I don't want to, but there are too many damn titles that it is impossible to follow. When it was just Uncanny X-Men and X-Men, that was fine because two different comics, two different X-Men teams. Since then, we have Uncanny X-Men, Astonishing X-Men, Ultimate X-Men and a thousand others each with their own team members… except for Wolverine who is in EVERY one of these. How is it possible? Which "X" team is the real one? Someone care to explain for me? :blink:
Originally posted by Seta Ginny@Feb 13 2005, 11:56 PM
And the Age of the Apocolypse storyarc with Bishop that was like…two episodes in the cartoon was fucking AWESOME in the comics. Every X-Men title turned to a alternate universe for four issues, and it was a great story. Definitely worth checking out.
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I agree. I thought the Age of Apocolypse was very well done. Wolvie with Jean, Magneto and Rogue heading up the X-Men, and Bishop the only one who remembered everything… it was just awesome stuff. And I liked the idea of a few of those characters escaping into the present like the "Dark Beast" though I think they missed the boat with it. It would have been awesome to have had Magneto and Rogue's kid end up in the present.
Originally posted by GunMetal: Reloaded@Feb 14 2005, 10:42 PM
I used to collect X-Men about 10 years ago. But ever since the whole Onslaught mess, I don't touch the comic. It's not that I don't want to, but there are too many damn titles that it is impossible to follow. When it was just Uncanny X-Men and X-Men, that was fine because two different comics, two different X-Men teams. Since then, we have Uncanny X-Men, Astonishing X-Men, Ultimate X-Men and a thousand others each with their own team members… except for Wolverine who is in EVERY one of these. How is it possible? Which "X" team is the real one? Someone care to explain for me? :blink:
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Well I must say that right now, I have found Xmen to be pretty good lately. There is really only three on going titles Uncanny Xmen, Xmen, and Astonishing Xmen (and that might end once Joss Whedon finishes his twelve issue run). Also each book has a seperate team and you don't really have to buy them all cause the story lines don't overlap anymore. They have done away with the big Summer block buster storylines like Onslaught and Operation Zero Tolerance. It really depends on which characters you like and which creative team you like. I personally would recomend Uncanny Xmen and Astonishing Xmen right now they are really great. Xmen has a new writer and I am not sure what I think of him just yet. In all seriousness now is a great time for all those old jaded X-fans to jump back on the bus although you might need to check out some of the trade paperbacks to get caught up.
Sorry I have a tendency to ramble.
Originally posted by GunMetal: Reloaded+Feb 14 2005, 10:48 PM–>QUOTE(GunMetal: Reloaded @ Feb 14 2005, 10:48 PM)
We all ramble sometimes (or in my case all the time).
Well, I was half looking for an excuse to get back into the x-books and this is the third recommendation I have seen lately. Guess I'll have to take the plunge. Doesn't bode well for my wallet.
Heh if you look back it is probably me singing their praises the whole time. I would definitely check out New Xmen E is for exctinction, which is the beginning of the grant morrison run, just cause it was really good and he really shoke things up. Astonishing Xmen is really awesome though, Joss Whedon is amazing and the first six issue's are out in a trade paper back right now…so go get it.
heh just kidding.
Originally posted by madgophermm5@Feb 15 2005, 12:07 AM
Well I must say that right now, I have found Xmen to be pretty good lately. There is really only three on going titles Uncanny Xmen, Xmen, and Astonishing Xmen (and that might end once Joss Whedon finishes his twelve issue run). Also each book has a seperate team and you don't really have to buy them all cause the story lines don't overlap anymore. They have done away with the big Summer block buster storylines like Onslaught and Operation Zero Tolerance. It really depends on which characters you like and which creative team you like. I personally would recomend Uncanny Xmen and Astonishing Xmen right now they are really great. Xmen has a new writer and I am not sure what I think of him just yet. In all seriousness now is a great time for all those old jaded X-fans to jump back on the bus although you might need to check out some of the trade paperbacks to get caught up.
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Interesting, what team is Bishop on? He was always my fav. Heck, I got his first appearance. :D And why is Wolvie on every single team?
I LOVE Frank Miller. Hopefully the Sin City movie will be good. Miller's Sin City and work on Batman are brilliant. I love Alan Moore though and I would have to rank The Watchmen as one of the all time best comic stories.
Originally posted by GunMetal: Reloaded@Feb 14 2005, 11:58 PM
**Interesting, what team is Bishop on? He was always my fav. Heck, I got his first appearance. :D And why is Wolvie on every single team?[snapback]2843[/snapback]**
Well if you are a Bishop fan then you are in luck. He is currently on Uncanny Xmen, but what you should really check out is District X. It is this really interesting cop drama staring Bishop and it takes place in this like Mutant Ghetto. think of it as like harlem for mutants. Basically him and this human cop investigate different crimes in the city. It is a marvel Knight book so it is a bit more mature as well. It is suppossed to be one of Marvels most over looked titles right now.
Oh and Wolvie is on every team cause he is the best there is at what he does and what he does is sell books.
Totally agree on Watchmen, Gunmetal. One of those books that I can't recommend enough to those who haven't partaken.
Anybody else have anything that they feel is just a work of pure genius?
Personal nominations for works of genius:
Watchmen (of course)
From Hell
V for Vendetta
Sin City
Bone (so simple, so complex, so much fun)
Grasscutter (Usagi Yojimbo GN - UY is consistently excellent and this is a classic story arc)
Sandman (I enjoyed the earlier stuff more)
Batman: The Long Halloween (great art and story - I enjoyed the hell out of this - genius? maybe not. perfectly executed comic art? definitely!)
Seven Days of Night (more for the art - I'm a junkie for cool art and this delivers - not that the story isn't excellent as well, but the art - and a recommendation from one of the guys who runs my comic shop - sold me on it)
Kingdom Come (Alex Ross is such an amazing artist and I love the conecpt behind the book - I'll rate it genius level for Ross' art alone)
<edit>How could I list Sam & Max as the greatest game of all time and not list it as one of the greatest comics of all time?! I'm just glad there is a similar thread going at one of my game sites or I might have forgotten it entirely! So I also recommend Sam & Max: Surfin the Highway - damn funny stuff (and they teach you to play fizzball!)</edit>
If I had to list something as one of the greats, I would definitely nominate Origins. It is a really great story with amazing artwork.
Oh yeah, Transmetropolitan rocks.
How about Cerebus the Aardvark? I never read it personally but I've heard many good things about it.
An early issue of Spawn was a one-shot of Cerebus written by Dave Sims, the creator. Spawn was having a vision and dreamt that Cerebus was guiding him through a twisted version of Hell. And you saw all of these famous super-heroes all beaten down and imprisoned. Well, you didn't actually SEE them but you could see their hands sticking through the cages and identify them (Hulk, Spidey, Wolverine, Batman, etc.). And then they passed the cage of a broken man who COULD have changed everything. The only one with that much power and heart. And you could clearly see that this person was Superman from his outline. (I just love how a number of comic books reference Superman as being "the greatest hero of them all".)
Anyway, it was a great, great issue. If I had to rank a single comic book issue, this one would definitely be pretty high up there as far as stories go.
Aaah, Cerebus. The comic I love to hate and hate to love. I started reading it around issue 55 or so (just missing the goat issue) and stuck it out for the rest of the run (300 issues). I hadn't been reading it too long when I realized that I just plain hated the main character (Cerebus) and that it was the other characters that I really liked. Cerebus is just an asshole and I stuck around waiting for the end when he would finally kick the bucket and I could feel a little satisfaction. Anyway, along the way it takes a lot of turns into new styles and experimental stuff. There is a large stretch of Oscar Wilde in it, parodies of various characters (from all forms of media - Elric, Red Sonja, Cap Am, Wolvie, Mick Jagger and Kieth Richards, Sandman, the Three Stooges), Hemingway makes an appearance. Its an amazing book, but can be like torture at times. A challenge. Once past Church and State Part 1 it gets much more difficult.
Anyway, its the story of an Aardvark. From his early days as a Conan parody to a politial career to being Pope and hell, that's just the first 100 issues.
I can't recommend it unless you have access to the 'phone books' (what we affectionately call the collections) through a friend. I think it speaks a lot for the book that even after I decided that I hated the main character I stuck it out for 200 more issues. Its in a class all by itself. Hell, the letters pages are in a class all by themselves. Someday I will sit down and re-read it from the beginning but I don't anticipate being any more sympathetic to the main character. Doesn't mean I won't enjoy the read.
Sorry for rambling and for any horrible typos - I'm on the patio at work enjoying the sun while its still here - we get snow again tonight apparently. 
