An Embarrassment of Riches

I'm fortunate to be in an area where the libraries are good about building their graphic novel collections. However, after a few over-zealous library visits the past couple of weeks, I find myself with an embarrassment of riches — 36 graphic novels! I'm probably going to just grab whichever one strikes me at any given time to read, but I want to a) show off the selections, and more importantly b) get feedback on if there's anything in here that's absolutely not worth reading, that I should bump up to the top of the list, etc.

Here's what I have:
  • Amazing Spider-Man: Family Ties » Collecting the short tales from Amazing Spider-Man Family #1-3, by a whole slew of top-notch creators.
  • Amazing Spider-Man Presents: Anti-Venom » The mini focusing on Eddie Brock's new identity by Zeb Wells and Paulo Siqueira.
  • Astro City: The Dark Age Book 1 — Brothers & Other Strangers
  • Cinderella: From Fabletown with Love
  • Criminal: The Deluxe Edition » Hardcover collection of...I think all the issues of Brubaker's Criminal.
  • The Dark Tower: Battle of Jericho Hill » The main drawback on this one right now is that it's the fifth Dark Tower series, and I still haven't read the fourth (wish they'd number these so I could've known that BEFORE I checked it out, but whatever).
  • The Eternals: To Slay a God » I can't remember if there were more issues than are collected in this volume, but this is from the short-lived series that was launched a couple of years ago following Gaiman & JRJr's mini.
  • Gotham City Sirens vol. 1: Union
  • Jack of Fables vol. 7: The New Adventures of Jack and Jack
  • Kick-Ass
  • The Last Temptation » The Gaiman/Zulli book. One of the few Gaiman works I haven't read.
  • Locke & Key vol. 2
  • Mythos » I don't really remember this, but I guess this collects origin one-shots about Spider-Man, the Hulk, the FF, and Ghost Rider, all by Paul Jenkins and Paolo Rivera.
  • Runaways: Homeschooling » The final story arc (so far) from these books, the storyline by Kathryn Immomen and Sara Pichelli. I never read these in individual issues...
  • Signal to Noise » Another of the few Gaiman works I haven't read.
  • The Stand: Captain Trips
  • The Stand: American Nightmares
  • The Stand: Soul Survivors
  • Superman: Codename: Patriot » A collection of here-and-there's from the New Krypton storyline (World of New Krypton #6, Action Comics #880, Supergirl #44, Superman #691, and Jimmy Olsen Special #2).
  • Superman: Kryptonite » The Darwyn Cooke/Tim Sale storyline from...what was that book called? Superman Confidential? You know the one...
  • Superman: Mon-El » This is the Mon-El takeover of Superman during New Krypton.
  • Superman: New Krypton vol. 1
  • Superman: New Krypton vol. 2
  • Superman: New Krypton vol. 3
  • Superman: New Krypton vol. 4 » I've actually read vols. 1 and 4 before, but I figure getting them in context with the rest of the series wouldn't be a bad idea...
  • Thunderbolts: Widowmaker » The last Thunderbolts collection I read was the Secret Invasion issues, so this would require skipping over a few intervening stories, unless I can find those trades at the library, too.
  • Timestorm 2009-2099 » The miniseries from last year that revisits the Marvel 2099 continuity.
  • Trinity vol. 1
  • Trinity vol. 2
  • Trinity vol. 3
  • Umbrella Academy vol. 1: Apocalypse Suite » Actually reading this one right now...
  • Wormwood: Gentleman Corpse » Oops! This one's due today. Should I start it?
  • X-Men and Spider-Man » I don't remember this, but apparently it's a miniseries that came out not too long ago by Christos Gage and Mario Alberti?
  • X-Men Legacy: Emplate
  • X-Men Origins » Collects the Colossus, Jean Grey, Beast, Wolverine, Sabretooth, and Gambit origin one-shots by...whoever those were by. :-/
  • X-Men: Pixie Strikes Back » Another Kathryn Immomen/Sara Pichelli collaboration. I don't know anything about it, but that team's enough for me. :)
So...and recommendations? Which should I make sure to read, which should I avoid, etc. etc.

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  • I haven't read most of those, but I will give some recommendations:

    Criminal: One of my favorite series. I would definitely keep that one.
    Cinderella: From Fabletown With Love: I liked this one a lot as well.
    Jack of Fables: I love the series, but I think you could skip this and come back way later and still fully enjoy it. You could easily.
    As well as the Astro City one. That was one I was glad was over when it finished. It dragged on way too long.
  • Wormwood is fun, go ahead and read it right away. Criminal is one of my favorite current series, so I'd move that to the top. I haven't read the whole Cinderella series, but I loved the first issue; if you like Fables I think that could move up the pile, too. I agree with Travis about that Jack of Fables collection: skip-able for now.
  • I've only read X-men & Spider-man series. It's pretty good but nothing earth shattering. It was a four issue mini series that covered four different eras in the characters' lives. I'd recommended reading it, maybe not as your first choice but it's worth a look. Especially if you're a fan of the characters involved.
  • I like The Last Temptation. I re-read it every couple of years around this time of year (however this year I'm reading Tomb of Dracula). It's really intended to be read along with the album (and does read better that way, IMHO), although it does stand alone, too.

    Nothing else on your list really jumps out at me.
  • The only one I REALLY like on the list is Umbrella Academy.
  • Awesome, thanks for the feedback, all! Due dates and geographic logistics dictated the first selections I read — Umbrella Academy, The Last Temptation, and Kick-Ass — but from here on out the reading list is much more flexible.

    Trav and Mark: thanks for the guidance on Jack of Fables. I'm lukewarm on the series to begin with, but I've read the previous volumes so figured I'd grab it (before I realized how many books I'd wind up getting!). I think that one can safely be bumped towards the bottom.

    TP, I remember you posting that panel, and yeah, the Black Widow bit definitely makes me interested in reading that. I'm kinda in the mood for Marvel U stuff, so I'm thinking either that (although I would want to read the Thunderbolts volume before it first), Anti-Venom, or Runaways will be next...
  • We're in much the same boat, Alan.

    You might be a little ahead of me in your reading, but we're reading much the same things. I'm halfway through Dark Reign too, and I have Umbrella Academy Vol 1 on my bookshelf.

    I thought that getting stuff out of the library would lead to a more streamlined bedside table/bookshelf, but this hasn't turned out to be the case, as I order tons of books that I wouldn't be able to get my hands on otherwise, but I'm still having trouble finding the time to read them, or being in the mood to read them right away.

    I have 10 library books at home and 10 awaiting collection.

    Of the ones on your list I've read the Spider-man books, and Busiek's Trinity.

    Anti-Venom is only fluff. It's exactly what they were trying to avoid with the 'only 3 books a month - concentrate on the quality' strictures of the BND model. It furthers Eddie Brock's story a little, showing you what he's now like. Only read it after his first main arc in the BND series, where he becomes Anti-Venom, if you don't want to spoil that. The BND books (inc Family Ties) are best read in order of publication. They are one huge story. Anti-Venom is also written by one of the Spidey brain-trust, so its canon, if that matters. The 'Punisher kills criminals' jokes in it are a laff though. Good old Frank.

    Trinity is incredibly interesting, I'll say that for it. It does something quite unusual and ambitious with DC's big three. It has plenty of flaws, and some of it's just weird, but ... interesting all the same. I'd read them spaced out a little, to let what happens sink in before ploughing on through them. Busiek is one of the greats and this is something he put a lot into...

    Trinity is very much the third part in Busiek's trilogy which he began in JLA/Avengers, and continued in JLA Syndicate Rules (originally in JLA #101 - 108). To really get what's going on in it, I'd strongly reccomend reading those two first... (JLA Syndicate Rules also reads much better as part of this trilogy, which should be more widely known, as it tends to get short shrift from the fans.)

    I know – you post 35 books you have to read, and I go and tell you to read another two…

    Believe it or not, Trinity also sets up the universe where the new JMS Superman hardcover is set. Or it would appear to...

    I'm really looking forward to reading Millar's Kick-Ass some day soon. It looks like mindless fun.

    And I’d never heard of The Last Temptation
  • Figs, The Last Temptation is an Alice Cooper concept album/comic book that were done as two halves of a single project, that is, neither one is adaptation of the other.

    Alan, I'm interested to read your thoughts on that, and on Kick-Ass (which I have never read) as well.
  • Never mind. I found it. :)
  • Jeff of Earth-J said:
    Alan, I'm interested to read your thoughts on that, and on Kick-Ass (which I have never read) as well.

    My comments in the What Comics Have You Read... thread were a little cursory, but since you specifically want my thoughts, I'll expand a bit. :)

    There's really not a LOT more to The Last Temptation than what I already said — a nice little Halloween story — because, well, I don't think Gaiman wanted to put much more into it than that. He says in the introduction that his goal was to make something that was essentially pop music in comic book form: an enjoyable story that's not too heavy and easily accessible. What strikes me, thinking about it now, is that this is kind of a complementary story to his short story "The Facts in the Case of the Disappearance of Miss Finch" (or "...the Departure of Miss Finch", depending on where you look), in which a middle-aged(ish) woman disappears after being exposed to certain experiences at a mysterious traveling show. Gaiman even later translated "The Facts in the Case..." into a graphic novel with Michael Zulli, his collaborator on The Last Temptation; I imagine it would be very interesting to read the two back-to-back.

    Kick-Ass, on the other hand, invites a lot more discussion. It's definitely of the same superhero deconstructionist school of thought as most (all?) of Millar's other works. The costumed protagonists are all dysfunctional to some greater or lesser degree; I think the main thing that makes Kick-Ass a sympathetic character is that he's the least dysfunctional hero in the book. But it's weird: on the one hand, Millar shows real consequences to trying to be a superhero — lots of blood and violent beatings, injuries, death — but conversely has the characters bounce back from these consequences easily, or at least without any apparent permanent damage, so I'm not sure if he's going for commentary or pastiche or ironic glorification or...I just don't know.

    As I said over in the other thread, I read this within a week of seeing the movie, so it's a pretty easy compare/contrast for me. The movie received a lot of criticism for glorifying violence, with director Matthew Vaughn defending it as being critical of those things in the form of parody, but honestly I think the movie did an even worse job of making that clear than the comic did. If the comic had a vague message on the consequences of comic book violence, the movie pretty much always showed those consequences as, ultimately, leading to better things. The movie also makes the costumed characters much more "cool" and less dysfunctional, so I don't know that it even captures that theme from the comics.

    How's that for you, Jeff? :)
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