The Ultimate List: 20 Best Comics of All Time You Must Read
(One of the best comics of all time. Image courtesy Bookswagon/FB)
One of the hardest things about being a comic book fan is the inability to relate to casuals who don’t care to learn about or read the source materials that inspired the comic books. There is a whole faction of The Walking Dead fans who are good with never reading the comics. Most modern Iron Man fans love RDJ’s portrayal of the character and are good with never reading the comics.
If you love Neil Gaiman’s American Gods or The Sandman TV shows, then you have no excuse for not reading the novel or the source comics. I compiled this list of the 20 best comics of all time to help convince casuals that they are missing out by loving comic book culture without reading the comic books.
The 20 Best Comics of All Time
Here you will find a list of the 20 best comics of all time relative to my opinions.
You don’t really need to look at this list as a countdown but as a list of stories that could serve as a gateway to becoming a hardcore comic book fan.
If you are a comic book casual, think about how you felt when RDJ first uttered “I’m Iron Man!” on-screen in the 2008 film. Do you remember Heath Ledger’s iconic cackle when he entered that meeting with the gangsters to introduce himself in 2008’s The Dark Knight? Where were you when you saw RDJ’s final scene as Iron Man in 2019’s Avengers: Endgame when he uttered “I’m Iron Man!”? (It takes a great actor to make the same line iconic in two distinct performances.)
Think about it: as a non-reading comic book fan casual, you stayed committed to the MCU for over a decade to follow storylines in multiple films to get to Endgame. (If you’re complaining about the state of the MCU today, congrats, you’re still committed.) Staying committed and mentally immersing yourself in a creative medium is part of the wages of fandom.
It’s why I don’t relate to comic book casuals who complain about the difficulty of immersing themselves into decades of comic book canon and reading hundreds of comic books, storylines, and reboots.
As the kids say nowadays, I call cap.
Are you a fan of prolific novelists who dedicate entire series of novels to one character or story idea? You may have read hundreds of thousands or millions of words to complete an epic of connected novels. Think of how hard it might be for a casual who is new to long-running epic novel series to jump into such a medium.
Are you a Stephen King fan? Do you pride yourself on having read every word that King wrote in his career? While there is no hard data, some have estimated that King has written over 8 million words over his career, and counting. Can you imagine how intimidating it is to ask someone who may not be into novels to consider reading 8 million words to appreciate the collected works of a single author?
There are long-running video game series that extend for years and require hundreds of hours of gameplay to complete the experience.
Every genre and medium of creative fandom has a cost of time commitment for mental immersion and temporary escapes from reality. It is no different with comic books with sprawling storylines that extend back for decades and require reading hundreds of comic books if not more, to fully enjoy the experience.
Every hardcore fan of novels, videos, and comic book epics started with an initial experience.
The point is that there are so many stories from the source comics to the films you already love that could give you goosebumps after reading them.
All it takes to become interested is to start with one comic or graphic novel. Read this list and choose wisely. And be open-minded. You never know what story could get you hooked on comics.
Saga (2012)
Brian K. Vaughn and Fiona Staples, the respective writer, and artist of Saga, said in an interview that Saga is a space opera and fantasy about diversity, or the perils of peoples of disparate cultures and backgrounds not working together for common goals, and the importance of family.
If you’re familiar with the themes of Star Wars, then you just have to imagine a humanlike alien named Marko, with horns on his head, and Alana, who has wings, having a baby, and struggling to survive in a galaxy plunged into war.
The opening pages of the comic depict childbirth and the stress of newborn parents wrestling with the responsibilities of caring for an infant in a violent world with endless problems. There is a lot more to this comic but you should find out for yourself. Vaughn is a master at crafting characters that you care about and relate to.
Imagine this story as a mix of Romeo and Juliet with Star Wars.
The story is much better than the tagline I supplied and is about how love and family have to persevere, no matter the obstacle.
Get it at Amazon for $35.
The Sandman (1989)
Do you remember reading about Shakespeare or mythology in high school or college and rolling your eyes and struggling to concentrate? The Sandman is kind of like classical literature in comic form and it i much more interesting than that description sounds.
Morpheus, also known as Dream, is a member of a race of God-like beings known as the Endless. Dream is freed from a human-bound prison and goes on a quest to recover ancient tokens that give him power. Dream learns how the world changed during his imprisonment and how his old actions have caused problems. After enacting a mercy killing of one of his relatives, Dream must contend with a powerful force, the Furies, to answer for his actions.
If you have ever watched any of Neil Gaiman’s TV shows, then you understand how easily the writer merges mythology, fantasy, and horror themes in a relatable setting for readers to absorb. Gaiman was at the peak of his writing prowess when he wrote The Sandman in the late 20th century and you do yourself a disservice to NOT read it now.
The Sandman streaming show was awesome but in no way is a substitute for the source comics.
Get it for $14.69 at Amazon.
Wolverine: Old Man Logan (2009)
In the comic book world, it is a very popular theme to publish “Last Days..” alternate stories where popular characters engage in heroic acts before their death.
Without giving too much away, Old Man Logan is that type of story. Written by Mark Millar and drawn by Steven McNieven, this story is about an elderly Logan in the future who has been a recluse because he committed an unspeakable act while under mind control.
The United States is run by supervillains, there are no more heroes left, and Old Man Logan, who hasn’t used his powers in decades, is the only one who can save the day. This story is a gonzo action-movie style story where you can see Wolverine pushed to his limits as an old man.
Did I mention the inbred Hulk hillbillies that try to bully Old Man Logan? This is an insane read and if you love X-Men comics you should check it out.
Get it for $19.19 at Amazon.
Daredevil: Born Again (1986)
Matt Murdock, a blind lawyer, and superhero vigilante Daredevil, is pushed to the brink of madness in this story. His arch-enemy, the Kingpin, discovers his greatest secret and uses it against Murdock to destroy his life.
I don’t want to spoil the whole story but it is a heartbreaking deconstruction of the Daredevil character from back in the 1980s. Antiheroes are a dime a dozen today, but antiheroes replacing the saving-cats-in-a-tree superhero paradigm was groundbreaking back then.
Have you watched the Netflix Daredevil series featuring Charlie Cox? Imagine the Karen Page character becoming a junkie, selling her body, and selling Matt Maurdock’s greatest secret to his greatest enemy. This inciting event causes Murdock to go insane, lose his job, become homeless, and almost give up the mantle of Daredevil.
This comic was published at the dawn of the Modern Age when comic book characters began to mirror the zeitgeist of the times. It cemented the trope of Matt Murdock embracing the hypocrisy of being a lawyer by day and beating up crooks at night as a vigilante and relying on his faith as a Catholic to balance both sides of his life.
This description of the story is a lot deeper than I just wrote and should be more appreciated. The artwork by David Mazzuchelli is mindblowing as well and deserves to be appreciated too.
The upcoming Disney+ series will be inspired by this story.
Get it for $14.60 at Amazon.
Maus I: A Survivor’s Tale: My Father Bleeds History (1980 – 1991)
This comic is the first in a series written and drawn by Art Spiegelman. Spiegelman retold the story of his father’s time in the Nazi concentration camps with the persecuted Jews drawn as mice and the Nazis drawn as cats.
The Holocaust is a caustic subject to talk about for many people, especially for new generations who don’t appreciate that the Nazis tried to exterminate millions of people almost 80 years ago. Maus brings the reader into this topic that can be used as a springboard for people who don’t know about the Holocaust, its consequences, or its aftermath effects.
Additionally, this comic is a therapeutic masterpiece by Spigelman who wanted to document the suffering his father endured in an artistic way that won’t ever be forgotten once read.
Get it for $8.58 at Amazon.
Crisis on Infinite Earths (1985)
One of the biggest reasons why casuals are hesitant to get into comic books is that some characters and stories have years or decades of canon connected to them. This groundbreaking story aimed to correct that problem.
In the story, an evil being called the Anti-Monitor begins destroying an endless number of multiverse timelines. The DC heroes unite to stop the threat. The story was conceived to clean up the clutter canon of the characters and make reading easier for casuals to get involved.
In the comics, years and decades of canon become so unwieldy for storytelling purposes that editors instruct writers to reboot stories and universes. DC Comics actually pioneered the concept of multiverse with this story even though the MCU gets the credit today.
One of the most fascinating storylines in this comic is witnessing Barry Allen, The Flash, run faster and faster to absorb the energy of a device that will destroy the world – but in the process, Allen disintegrates into dust because he absorbed too much energy while running to save the world. It is one of the most iconic deaths in comic book history, even though Allen came back to life years later.
Heroes die in tragic ways in this story and the ending resets the new universe of DC to tell new stories.
It was a groundbreaking way to tell stories back then and whose template is still being used today
Get it for $19.21 at Amazon.
The Visions (2015)
Written by Tom King and drawn by Gabriel Hernandez Walta, Vision is an enthralling and gut-wrenching story that you should read if you enjoyed the WandaVision series.
In a quest to create a normal family life for himself, Vision builds a wife and two children for himself to live in suburbia with, but nothing goes as planned.
This story is a great analogy for the dangers of AI. Does a computer programmed to act human actually know that it is human? If you watched WandaVision, then you know about Wanda and Vision’s children. In the comic books, they were never real, just beings of magic that Wanda created because she could not procreate with Vision. (But that is another story)
Long after those events, Vision creates his own family. They understand that they are not human but do their best to assimilate. However, whenever the family perceives a threat to their household, death occurs. Agatha Harkness then has to warn the Avengers that the synthezoid family might accidentally end the world while defending their non-human and AI-based ideal of what it means to be family.
Even though the Visions are not human, they do project human characteristics by trying to justify their violent means. It is a heartbreaking and poignant story that more people should know about.
Get it for $19.39 at Amazon.
Secret Wars (1984)
Written by Jim Shooter and drawn by Mike Zeck and Bob Layton, Secret Wars was a massively popular crossover mini-series from the early 1980s.
An omnipotent being called The Beyonder transports Earth’s heroes to a far-off planet to battle for its amusement. The upcoming Avengers film of the same name is inspired by this story.
When I was a child, this comic book was actually a tie-in with a toy line of action figures based on the characters. My brothers and I had almost all of the toys. However, this comic, like Crisis on Infinite Earths, pioneered the sideline crossover where every popular superhero had to work together for a common goal.
It was in this comic series that Spider-Man first merged with the symbiote and gained the Black Costume. There is an issue where the heroes are trapped under a planet’s crust, and are about to be crushed, and the Hulk must stay angry and hold up the weight of a planet to keep them from being squashed.
This storyline is a curio of history and is great to read to understand why its the source material for the upcoming film.
Get it for $24.47 at Amazon.
X-Men: Days of Future Past (1981)
Written by Chris Claremont and drawn by John Byrne, this 1981 X-Men storyline was the inspiration for the 2014 X-Men film of the same name.
In the year 2013, the mutant-hunting Sentinels hunted mutants in a world filled with anti-mutant hysteria. X-Man Kitty Pryde sends her consciousness back in time to 1981 to stop the dystopian future awaiting mutants from happening.
It is worth mentioning that this comic book was published three years before the first Terminator film debuted.
People who throw around the word “woke” have no idea that the X-Men comics were created as a reflection of the Civil Rights era and the hatred of the X-Men was an analog of the hatred non-white people experience.
This story took this idea further by exploring how uninhabitable the world might become if people only concentrate on their hatred of others, the differences between people, instead of focusing on common goals.
It is a powerful story that was decades ahead of its time. If you loved the X-Men film of the same name, then you owe it to yourself to check this comic.
Get it for $15.56 now at Amazon.
Spider-Man: Life Story (2019)
Written by Chip Zdarsky and drawn by Mark Bagley, this comic tells the story of Spide-Man as if he lived in the real world and aged in real-time instead of not aging at all in comic book time.
In this story, a middle-aged Peter Parker reminisces over his life and career as Spider-Man. The comic references Vietnam and other epochs in world history and imagines what Spider-Man would be like if he aged like us.
Many comic book fans complain that the Peter Parker character is stuck in a rut – Parker is broke, looking for a job, on the outs with Mary Jane, fights a villain and cracks jokes, wash, rinse, and repeat. This story made Peter Parker much more relatable while still relying on those tropes
Get it for $20.49 at Amazon.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Last Ronin (2020)
If you only know the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles from cartoons, films, and video games, then you are missing out on some great modern comic book iterations of the characters.
The TMNT IP is now licensed by IDW and the company has published over 175 issues of the series.
The Last Ronin is an alternate history retelling of the comic where three of the heroes have been killed and the last one takes on a new identity to get revenge. Gone are the wacky tropes of pizza-loving and juvenile superheroes – this story is about the price of revenge, holding grudges, and questions of identity in the aftermath of the loss of family.
These are heavy themes to read in a TMNT comic and the Last Ronin handles these themes expertly.
Get it now at Amazon for $17.70.
Saga of the Swamp Thing (1982)
Comic book legend Alan Moore was a young man when he got one of his first American writing jobs – reimaging and redefining the character Swamp Thing.
Swamp Thing was a nebulous character of mystery until Moore and artists John Totleben and Steve Bissette redefined the humanity of the character and explored the question of what is it that truly makes a man, a man.
Alec Holland is a scientist who died in an explosion in a swamp while being exposed to chemicals. Afterward, Swamp Thing was created. Holland believed he was human in a plant-like form.
Moore redefined the character when he wrote it – Holland died in the explosion. Swamp Thing was never Alec Holland. Plants are living things – Swamp Thing is a sentient plant monster that was imbued with the memories of a dead man. Swamp Thing is a plant that thinks it is a man.
This was a mind-blowing reveal 40 years ago and reinvigorated the Swamp Thing character for later generations.
Later in this same storyline, Moore created the character of John Constantine.
Get it for $17.99 at Amazon
Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow (2021)
Written by Tom King and drawn by Bilquis Evely, this comic book shows a side of Supergirl that I suspect more comic book fans wish they could see depicted in Superman.
Supergirl was sent in a rocket ship to Earth to protect her cousin Kal-El – due to time dilation in space, when Supergirl arrived on Earth, Kal-El was already Superman, negating her mission. In the comic books, Supergirl feels like an alien and an outsider and does not pretend to fit in with humans like Superman.
Supergirl is not a Girl Scout as depicted in the TV and film adaptations. In the comic books, she is a warrior who feels no need to find approval from humans. Supergirl does not want to relate to humans or be their champion.
Supergirl wants to be a hero on her own terms without seeking validation like Kal El. It is a very interesting character nuance that can be better appreciated by reading this comic.
In this story, Supergirl teams up with a young girl to help the girl get revenge for a wrong committed against her. It is almost like a mix of True Grit and Supergirl. This story will serve as the inspiration for an upcoming Supergirl film.
Get it for $17.99 at Amazon.
Batman: The Killing Joke (1988)
I hate being one of those guys who are stuck in the past, but I believe that some of the best comics of all time have already been published – and Alan Moore already wrote a lot of them.
In this story, we learn the origin of the Joker, although Moore tells the story in a way where the Joker is an unreliable narrator. Additionally, the Joker commits crimes so heinous that Batman is forced to consider philosophically if ending him is an answer.
It was in this storyline where The Joker paralyzed Barbara Gordon in the comic books – it was a heinous act that still ripples to this day. The Joker then took evidence of this crime to taunt James Gordon and almost drove him insane.
Decades ago I had a long debate with a friend – should Batman kill the Joker? If Batman is a crime-fighting ideal, how just is it to put criminals in Arkham Asylum, watch them escape, commit horrifying crimes, stop them, imprison them, rinse, wash, repeat?
This comic came out at the dawn of the antihero in comics and forced readers to ask is Batman responsible for the Joker or vice versa.
Get it for $11.12 at Amazon.
Superman: The Man of Steel (1986)
You may notice that some of the comic books on this list were published in 1986. Depending on who you ask, 1985 was the introductory year of the Modern Age of comic books.
In 1986, writer and artist John Byrne, Marv Wolfman, and artists Dick Giordano and Jerry Ordway reimagined Superman for comic book audiences. Many fans complain, even to this day that Superman is overpowered and a boy scout which makes him boring.
Byrne depowered Superman to make future threats and villains more interesting. Byrne also showed how Clark Kent’s life was more complicated while trying to maintain an alter ego.
To this day, most comic book fans believe that Batman, not Superman, is the most powerful and interesting comic book character – even though Batman has no superpowers. Byrne’s attempt at reinventing Superman in 1986 should be read by more people because he did his best to make Superman more relatable to new generation of readers.
Get it at Amazon for $27.60.
Kingdom Come (1996)
Written by Mark Waid and drawn by Alex Ross, Kingdom Come is one of the best comics of all time because it was written by the creators as an indictment against the waves of antihero and violent superheroes that became popular with fans during the mid-1980s.
In the story, Superman and many other heroes have retired or retreated from life as a new wave of more violent superheroes has taken their place. However, the new superhero paradigm soon shifts backward to a need for the return of more traditional superheroes when a new threat appears.
As fun as antiheroes like Deadpool are, it is now a tired trope. (Many of you know Ryan Reynolds as Deadpool even though you may have never read a Deadpool comic. How amazing is that?) Batman has killed criminals, especially in the 1940s comics and later instances where he packed a gun, but the antihero archetype who solves problems at any cost did not become common until the late 1980s.
In this story, Superman became a recluse as new antiheroes, with no moral compass, became popular. When a new global threat appears, Superman must assemble the old-school heroes to come to the rescue – except Batman resents him for giving up in the first place.
It is set in an alternate universe but the story is a great critique of the saturation of antiheroes and why Golden and Silver Age heroes will always be needed.
Get it for $17.99 at Amazon.
Batman: Year One (1987)
If you enjoyed the recent film The Batman starring Robert Pattison and directed by Matt Reeves, then you should know that it was heavily inspired by this story.
Written by Frank Miller and drawn by David Mazzuchelli, Batman: Year One tells the story of a naive, uncertain, and unpolished Batman starting his first year as a crime vigilante and starting his bond as a confidente with James Gordon.
There is an annoying Batman trope amongst Batman fans where his supposed superpower is prep-time, or the ability to defeat anyone with days, weeks, months, or weeks of prep time. The concept of the Batman character is wildly overpowered now but fans love him more than Superman who is actually overpowered.
If you saw The Batman film starring Pattinson, then you may remember the scene where a nervous young Bruce Wayne prepares to jump off the roof of the Gotham Police Station in a glide suit. That naivete, youth, and learning-the-ropes quality of Batman is not common in comics, film or TV – Batman is always prepared and always has the answers.
Batman: Year Old depicts a young Batman zealously trying to find his way. It’s a different take on Batman that is sorely missed.
Get it at Amazon for $7.49.
All-Star Superman (2005)
Written by Grant Morrison and drawn by Frank Quitely, All-Star Superman is one of the best comics of all time because it humanized the overpowered Superman character in a way comic book fans have not experienced since.
Superman is forced to face his own mortality after learning that he will die. He decides to make the most of the time he has left by helping to make the world safer and doing his best to leave the planet in better shape than when he first appeared.
This is a poignant story almost in the same vein as Spider-Man: Life Story (I said almost) – This story makes Superman relatable, human-like, and amazing to read about, even as he wrestles with his own mortality.
Get it for $23.59 at Amazon.
Batman: The Dark Knight Returns (1986)
Along with Watchmen, this comic, written and drawn by Frank Miller, also helped to usher in the era of antiheroes and gritty comic book characters who act like people in the real world.
In the future, Gotham City has fallen even further into lawlessness, unabashed corruption, and moral decay. Bruce Wayne is elderly and has been retired from vigilantism for so long that he no longer recognizes the Gotham he used to patrol.
Wayne decides to come out of retirement to show Gotham City and the world, that Batman is always needed.
Get it at Amazon for $17.99.
Watchmen (1986)
Watchmen is a 12-issue story that is considered one of the best comics of all time, depending on who you ask. I’m extremely biased since I have been reading this story almost every year since I was a child, but it is what it is.
Written by comic book legend Alan Moore and drawn by Dave Gibbons, Watchmen tells the story of a world set in 1985 where superheroes really exist in a world similar to our own.
Richard Nixon is the president, the Cold War is still raging, the U.S. handily won the Vietnam War, and it is all due to the existence of super-powered individuals and vigilantes. It is the existence of these superheroes that causes another type of arms race. The story begins with a murder, and the characters solving this murder unravel how this world will come dangerously close to self-initiated destruction.
That teaser description does not do the story justice – you may need to read it several times to appreciate all of the nuances. The publishing of this story in 1986 ushered in the wave of antihero and gritty superhero stories that still ripple to this day.
If you have ever heard the term “the deconstruction of the superhero archetype,” well, that term started with this groundbreaking story.
Get it at Amazon for $13.79.
Conclusion
If you are a casual, don’t be intimidated by the amount of comic book stories available out there. Just start somewhere and see where the story takes you.
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Allen Francis is a full-time writer, prolific comic book investor and author of The Casual’s Guide: Why You Should Get Into Comic Book Investing. Allen holds a BA degree from Marymount Manhattan College. Before becoming a writer Allen was an academic advisor, librarian, and college adjunct for many years. Allen is an advocate of best personal financial practices including saving and investing in your own small business.
