You know I've tried getting into The Authority but can't get my head around the issuing sequence. It seems so split up, I'm not sure where to start/go in terms of series/issues/etc.

Any rec's?

Are you reading the trades or current stuff (monthly)? The ongoing monthly right now is really disjointed and not by Warren Ellis.

The trades are best sequentially so "The Authority: Relentless" is a good place to start. The trades are numbered and a few aren't by Warren Ellis but are still good.

The Authority Revolution set of two trades by Ed Brubaker is incredible as well (although book two is way better than book 1). Those are kind of the end of the run though. Starting there won't work well because the first Doctor has OD'ed on Heroin one time too many and is dead (for good).

Its better to read the earlier trades in the series before Jeroen (the first Doctor) dies to get the feel of it. He's a major character for just about the whole original run.

Also the "Authority: Kev" trades by Garth Ennis are all really really good.

Thanks for the info. (Squinting to avoid the spoilers. )Yeah, I only read trades. I looked over the back covers of a few Authority titles and seriously couldn't figure out where to start. I guess the problem is the way the series are named rather than numbered.

So start with Relentless, then move on to Kev?

Well you could read "The Authority: Kev" trades whenever its not part of the continuity of "The Authority" just really good. You get an idea of what the team is like and the Midnighter and Apollo are featured prominently.

"The Authority" trades would be ordered: 1) Relentless, 2) Under New Management, 3) Earth Inferno, 4) Transfer of Power, 5) Harsh Realities, 6) Fractured Worlds, 7) Revolution book 1, 8 ) Revolution book 2.

Also the Warren Ellis "Desolation Jones" trade might be more to your liking, its self contained and a bit more like "Transmetropolitan". "Doctor Sleepless" (Warren Ellis again) is almost as good.

I read a lot of Warren Ellis' work.

Clinical! Thanks much!!

Authority is a Wildstorm book and many of the creator owned stuff DC is doing there are really cool.

I Loved the Ellis run on Authority, and Mark Millar takes over after him. Millar's run is good but he dips into the same material later when he landed the Ultimates gig at Marvel, so it may seem like old territory if you have read those.

Another cool Wildstorm title is Ex Machina by Brian K. Vaughn. It's a neat alternate history story with superheroes. Very cool read, especially if you are looking for more Vaughn post Y the Last Man.

Check out Garth Ennis' "The Boys" if you haven't yet. He did "Preacher" and some other killer books ("The Authority: Kev" as well). Probably in my top 3 of monthly releases.

It was kicked off Wildstorm for being too depraved so now its on Dynamite Comics. Its collected in trades and really a lot of fun but extremely twisted.

"The Boys" is a great series. Ennis is a great writer; I dropped Punisher after he left. Authority and Planetary are good reads too, I wish the next Planetary Trade would come out, the regular issue comes out like once a year. I miss Sandman, but Gaiman just wrote a brillaint 2 issue story dealing with the "death" of Batman. The current Marvel Zombies mini is fun- it's not campy like previous series; it features the 70's Marvel Monsters ( Werewolf by Night, Man-Thing, Morbius, Son of Satan), vs the menace of the Zombie mutation. And it takes place in the regular MU.

Oh yeah, what series/book #'s? I don't keep up as much but would love to check them out.

Gaiman just did Batman #686 and Detective #853.

Warren Ellis is on Astonishing X-Men atm, seems like a wierd assignment he's several issues in and its kind of lackluster so far but maybe he's setting things up.

I'll pick up the Ed Brubaker Captain America, his runs on The Authority and Daredevil were excellent.

It'd take someone like Ed Brubaker (Neil Gaiman, Warren Ellis, Alan Moore, Grant Morrison or Garth Ennis) to get me to buy another DC or Marvel resurrection plotline.

Seems like almost all the best comic writers are from the UK these days. Ed Brubaker is one of the few exceptions, don't think he's at Neil Gaiman or Alan Moore's level but he's really good.

Cool, thanks. I pretty much stay clear of anything in Marvel and DC considered part of the main universes now. I love the 1 off mini series' they do, things like Jeff Smith's Shazam! and can enjoy the Ultimates universe too seeing that it is it's own, self containted unit. But the major universe for both, blah.

This was set out of continuity though, wasn't it? I felt that it was dealing with one of the issues raised here, the problem of what to do with a character in a comic that never ends. I won't say any more though to avoid spoilers.

i thought that morrison's start on the Authority and WildC.A.T.S. a few years back (something like Vol. 120,439,485, issue #1) looked promising (with art by jim lee on 1 of the books....or both?), but then issue #2 never came out, for either series....

Yes, I agree it deals effectively with the never ending legend of Batman; but I thought it was in continuity with the DC Multiverse, if not the current Earth Dc Universe Batman and friends reside in. The waters have been muddy since Crisis on Infinite Earths, then Zero Hour and most of the Crises since then- hopefully DC stay away from anymore major continuity glitches.
I generally prefer DC to Marvel, but even though continuity with individual characters may be messy, the main Marvel Universe as a whole has not gone through near the number of revisions the DCU has. I hated COIE ; it was supposed to end the preconceived "fan confusion" about Earth 1 and Earth 2, and snowballed into endless
reimaginings of every DC character.

I'm only a casual reader, so most of that went straight over my head (as did most of the new gods stuff in Final Crisis). The ending of the two-parter didn't fit with [what I saw to be] the ending of Final Crisis so I thought it was dealing with the idea of a timeless Batman in an ever changing world, rather than being an event set at any point during a time line. Does that make sense?

I agree Planetary is a nice read, but yeah wouldn't it be nice if they came out more often!

I tried Preacher but couldn't get into it. Too violent. Same with 100 Bullets. Interesting premise, but the reads are too shallow, with a lot of shock violence for its own sake. I dunno. A buddy recommended that I give Preacher another shot.

Ex Machina is maybe the only Vaughan read which I think *might* have legs if he can keep it together. I found Y: The Last Man a disappointment which spiraled downward after TPB 5 or so, climaxing in a big hulaballoo of who the hell cares anymore, a 'la Battlestar Galactica season 4. So much geek promise, so much geek potential left unfulfilled.

If you have only read the first trade of 100 B you have missed the boat. The first book is all set up and the scope only expands as the book goes on. PLUS the artist Eduardo Risso doesn't really hit his stride until the 3rd trade, and he is AMAZING! But you were right about Preacher, violence for violence sake but I don't mind violence.

I'm on the 6th trade of Ex Machina and it still feels really cool and fresh!

I've read a couple of the 100 Bullets TPBs. Just isn't my thing. But if I fell into some for a few bucks, I'd probably give them another shot.

Maybe steer clear of Garth Ennis as its all really violent. Not sure its about shock value because his readers are desensitized. If someone normal in his stories gets hit by someone with super powers they tend to get badly mauled or killed.

Have you read "Fables" by Bill Willingham? Some of those storylines are so good they can be read several times over (you can get those in trades). The "Legends in Exile" and "Animal Farm" trades are particularly well crafted.

Yep, I've read all the Fables - even a couple of the spin-offs. It's probably the most enjoyable comic I've read in years. Smart and engaging without that smacked over the head feeling you get from writers like Moore.

the thing that is annoying about caps return isn't the fact that he is returning from the dead.
it's the radio stations and newspapers and whatnot that are trying to cheese it up.
it's not like they are just bringing him back all of a sudden. they've been working that story line since right after his death.

and the superman coming back from the dead comparison is so over played.
superman never died, regardless of the death of superman title.
kryptonian coma.

that's my random 2 cents.

i also think it's funny how i still run into people who think their death of superman issue is a gold mine....

When I worked at the comic shop people would bring that book in like they were going to cash in some savings bonds for their kids tuition or something. It was unreal! Honestly they would walk up to the counter with a "bet you've been waiting your whole life to lay eyes on one of these babies" kind of face. They were so pleased with themselves.

I'd take out the Overstreet and point to the current price, and they would just deflate like a popped balloon.

What?! You mean its not a gold mine? I just traded away my South African gold coins for 20 copies of the Death of SUperman!

wow, you totally just scored.
but you can't top this:
not only do i have the 1st "spectacular issue" of youngblood, but i have both covers.



......actually, i probably have like 40 copies of each......