What are your favorite underappreciated comic book runs?

[erwinrafael]

There are a lot of comic books that are really good but have flown under the radar of many readers. Do you have a favorite underappreciated comic book run that you still treasure until today?

I have two. First is The Crew by Priest and Joe Bennett. It lasted only 7 issues, given as some sort of concession to Priest for cancelling Black Panther. It follows the story of four characters (War Machine, Kasper Cole, Danny Vincent, and Josiah X) pursuing their own self-interest but are then pulled by circumstance to work together in fighting crime in Little Mogadishu. It's an amazing (non)team book that is made beautiful by amazing scripting by Priest (the dialogue was stylized and rhythmic), the best artwork made by Joe Bennett, and four characters that make an interesting dynamic. Priest compared this dynamic to be a little like the movie Three Kings and that is an accurate description.



Sample of page with dialogue, Kasper Cole taking on some skels. Notice the stylized dialogue:



Second underappreciated comic book run: Ka-Zar 1-14 by Mark Waid and Andy Kubert. This, along with Thunderbolts, is the best book by Marvel during the Heroes Reborn era. Mark Waid wrote Ka-Zar in New York City and even Ka-Zar vs. Thanos AND the High Evolutionary and made it work. But the real draw for me here is the Andy Kubert artowkr. Easily the best art done by Andy Kubert, before he became drawn to conventional layouts that started with his ORIGIN art. Anyway, here's a sample of one of the more funny scenes in the series:



Some creative visual storytelling:



And of course, amazing dinosaur artwork by Andy:

[paradise]

Not sure if these qualify because they are by popular creators but Bendis' Daredevil run and Fraction's Iron Fist (and now Hawkeye) are some of the best things Marvel put out EVER

[slym2none]

The 2-issue arc of ASM where a black-costumed Spidey (that was an alien but not yet Venom) ends up beating the crap out of Firelord. Amazing Spider-Man #s 269 & 270.

LOVE that story!



-slym

[Cyberstrike]

User a brilliant 3 part mini-series from Vertigo that is about a young woman's fantasy online life colliding with her real life.

Superman: For Tomorrow A brilliant story focusing on what happens when Superman screws up.

Spider-Man: Hooky and Spider-Man: Spirits of the Earth 2 beautiful drawn Spidey graphic novels.

The Punisher: Ghosts of Innocents a great 2 part story about what happens to the Punisher when he accidently kills a school bus of kids the artwork is not that great IMHO but a very different Punisher story from the 90s.

[IMJ]

Quasar volume 1, Journey Into Mystery arc.

[erwinrafael]

Not sure if these qualify because they are by popular creators but Bendis' Daredevil run and Fraction's Iron Fist (and now Hawkeye) are some of the best things Marvel put out EVER

They are indeed some of the best comics Marvel put out ever. But I would not consider them underappreciated. These books have received awards and nominations and made superstars out of their creators. And they consistently grace TPB racks.

[400yrs]

I Kill Giants

[nutflush76]

I Kill Giants

That is a great book!

Also, Batman Gothic from Legends of the Dark Knight. By Grant Morrison and Klaus Jansen. I just realized that this was written by Morrison the other day for another thread on this board.

[iwantvaliant]

I love that Ka-Zar run as well.

I nominate DC's Chronos.

[Tim]

Tom Peyer's Hourman run.

[vikingspawn]

Fanboy #1-6 (DC)
Plastic Man #1-20 (Kyle Baker run)
Space Circus #1-4

[Xtianhardy]

Flashpoint: The Outsider



I definitely wouldn't call this a "Favorite run" but it was my favorite of DC's Flashpoint tie-in series and I think it was very underappreciated, although that's not really surprising given it was a 3-issue mini starring a character nobody had ever heard of. That said, I'm still disappointed that we haven't seen this character introduced in the New 52. It was like Robinson or DC created him solely for Flashpoint which is a shame because I thought he made a great villain.

[Spylocke]

Druid and Doctor Voodoo spring to mind. Both were ongoing series that were cancelled appallingly early. I have a feeling that it won't be long before I add Morbius to that list. Dark, supernatural comics don't last very long these days.

DV8: Gods and Monsters is one I think is under-appreciated simply for the fact that it didn't immediately spawn an ongoing series.

[erwinrafael]

What? Doctor Druid had his own series?

[Xtianhardy]

Now here's one of my favorite all-time underappreciated runs

JMS and Gary Frank's run on Supreme Power, the early 2000s Marvel MAX reboot of Squadron Supreme. Easily my favorite MAX series and one of my favorite series ever. Such a fantastic deconstruction of many of the core characters of the DCU. I especially love the revamped versions of Nighthawk and Doctor Spectrum. I loved everything about this run until Marvel decided to move it from the MAX line and relaunch it as Squadron Supreme under the Marvel Knights banner, which really limited with JMS could do with these characters, and ultimately, watered down the book until the Ultimate Power miniseries just *SQUEE* it over completely.

[Spylocke]

What? Doctor Druid had his own series?

Yep. Written by Warren Ellis. It had a lot of potential but lasted a whopping four issues before cancellation. I don't know if it has ever been collected but the back issues aren't hard to find.

[Dr. Solar]

I Kill Giants

You know, I've had the nice hardcover of this sitting on my shelf for a couple years now, and I haven't gotten to reading it. I really need to get to this book one of these days.

[Andy]

Diety from Hyperwerks

[hulk181man]

Diety from Hyperwerks

I have a few of those, never read 'em.


I'd nominate the now-forgotten Bruce Jones run on Incredible Hulk. LOVED that run.....!

[400yrs]

I Kill Giants

You know, I've had the nice hardcover of this sitting on my shelf for a couple years now, and I haven't gotten to reading it. I really need to get to this book one of these days.

Get to it! Make sure you read the whole thing.

[erwinrafael]

Diety from Hyperwerks

I have a few of those, never read 'em.


I'd nominate the now-forgotten Bruce Jones run on Incredible Hulk. LOVED that run.....!

Thanks for reminding us. That indeed was an amazing run and has one of the best 'Nuff Said silent issues. And he had amazing artists as partners: John Romita Jr., Stuart Immonen, Lee Weeks, Mike Deodato Jr. Well-reviewed during its publication but almost forgotten today, largely because Jones' run was followed by an amazing run also: Greg Pak's.

[ian_house]

I think mini-series are often overlooked, here's some I really rate:

Last Days of Animal Man:



Batman Gates of Gotham:



Charlemagne:

[ian_house]

Also this:



Without being about Superman it is easily one of the best Superman stories ever written and really gets to the heart of the character.

[erwinrafael]

That's my second favorite Kurt Busiek story (next only to Marvels) and that's saying something considering that I really adored his Avengers run.

I also think that's Stuart Immonen's best work n his old pre-Nextwave style.

[ian_house]

That's my second favorite Kurt Busiek story (next only to Marvels) and that's saying something considering that I really adored his Avengers run.

I also think that's Stuart Immonen's best work n his old pre-Nextwave style.

Same, love it. Maybe it's not as underappreciated as I thought?