When most people think of comics, they think of Marvel and DC Comics (and for comic readers Image Comics). However, there’s a whole other comic market in the indies. Independent comics have been around since the ’60s with the comix scene, mature stories that featured everything but superheroes, or at least superheroes the way most would expect them. Over the years, the indie scene has boomed, with publishers like Dark Horse Comics, BOOM! Studios, Top Shelf Productions, Vault Comics, and many others putting out some fantastic books. On top of that, there are loads of self-published books from creators that have pushed the bounds of what comics can be. Indie comics go in directions that fans don’t expect and are some of the best reads out there.
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Indie comics are where you want to go when you want to find stories that you can’t get from the more mainstream segments of the comic industry. Many of the greatest comic creators have put out some fantastic indie books that will change the way you look at the medium. These ten indie comics are must reads for comic fans, and you need to do your best to hunt them down.
10. Strangers in Paradise
Strangers in Paradise is one of the best indie comics of the ’90s, premiering in 1993. Writer/artist Terry Moore wanted to do a newspaper strip, and hated it, but eventually chanced upon an idea that he could turn into a full-length comics. Strangers in Paradise follows Francine, Katchoo, and David in their lives. However, this isn’t just a romantic comedy of errors, but a deep story about the lives of three people as they learn about the secrets that make each of them tick. It’s consistently fantastic, and will enthrall you from the beginning. The book ran from 1993 to 2007, giving fans 107 issues of excellent storytelling and gorgeous art.
9. Persepolis
Persepolis is an amazing work that serves as much as a history as a great story. Writer/artist Marjane Satrapi grew up in Iran and when the Islamic Revolution started, it changed her life forever, forcing her family to move Austria. However, even there the lives of Satrapi and her family would never be the same. Persepolis takes readers to Iran and Austria to tell a sometimes devastating story about the way major events can change the lives of the people living through them. Persepolis was originally published in France before coming to the US and eventually getting adapted as an animated movie. Persepolis was almost banned several times by the more reactionary elements of the United States, but it’s a gripping, vital history of a time that changed the world.
8. A Contract with God and Other Tenement Stories
Will Eisner is one of the greatest creators in the history of the comic medium. Eisner is most well-known for The Spirit, an old school pulp detective hero whose adventures even continued after Eisner’s death. However, the best Eisner work for readers who want something different is A Contract with God and Other Tenement Stories. This graphic novel includes four different stories, following various Jewish people through their lives in New York City, dealing with their triumphs and tragedies. A Contract with God is amazing, a book that will take you back to the New York City of the 20th century. Eisner is sensational, and you will never forget it after reading this comic. A Contract with God has been adapted for Broadway, and is the quintessential Jewish New York story in comics.
7. Hellboy: Seed of Destruction
Hellboy is one of the greatest horror heroes in comics, and has been since his debut. Hellboy has made his way to the big screen in the ’00s and the ’10s and had his own animated movie as well, so he’s one of the most popular indie characters out there. Hellboy: Seed of Destruction tells the first story about the character, as he and the agents of the BRPD have to deal with the return of the Russian warlock Rasputin. Written and drawn by Mike Mignola, this story hooked readers in the ’90s, and started a whole universe of Hellboy comics. This is a tremendous work in the horror side of the comic industry, opening the door to so many stories, and this one is going to knock your socks off.
6. Black Hammer
Black Hammer, by Jeff Lemire and Dean Ormston, takes superhero archetypes from Marvel and DC and takes them in a new direction. A group of superheroes had their final battle against the most powerful universal destroyer ever, and are thrown to a new world after triumphing. Stuck in a small town they can’t leave, the six of them try to figure out what’s going on while also living a new life before things get insane when the past comes back to haunt them. Much like the Hellboy comics, Black Hammer sprouted a whole universe of books and it’s phenomenal. You don’t need to know the specific examples these archetypes are from to get them as characters, and this first book will give you some surprises you never expected. Black Hammer is superheroes done right and it will hook you forever.
5. League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: The Nemo Trilogy
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen is Alan Moore’s most ambitious work. Moore tried to create a fictional universe that brought in all of fiction, and succeeded beautifully in my opinion. If there’s one that I think everyone should check out regardless of whether they read any of it or even like the other volumes is The Nemo Trilogy, by Moore and Kevin O’Neill. It runs across three hardcovers — Heart of Ice, The Roses of Berlin, and River of Ghosts — and tells the story of Janni Nemo’s life after she took over as captain of the Nautilus after Captain Nemo’s death. These are stories about legacy and life, as well as Lovecraftian horrors, Nazis, and an immortal enemy. It’s a story about a woman and her life, and it’s beautiful from beginning to end.
4. The Many Deaths of Laila Starr
Ram V is one of the greatest writers working in comics right now, and we’re going to look at two of his books. The first is The Many Deaths of Laila Starr, with artist Filipe Andrade. Humanity is about to invent immortality, so the Hindu goddess of death is let go from her job, becoming a human named Laila Starr. However, she doesn’t want to lose her immortal life, so she sets out to destroy the life of the person who will do it, using her connections with the gods to constantly come after him even after dying. This is a comic about life and death, and it’s one of the most endearing books I’ve read in years. It’s a breathtaking story that will grab you by the soul and never let you go. I dare you to try to read the whole thing without crying.
3. These Savage Shores
These Savage Shores, by Ram V and Sumit Kumar, is a vampire story unlike any you’ve ever seen. A European vampire decides to go to India and finds himself in a place unlike anywhere he’s ever been. This book is about the European colonialism of India, using the East India Company’s actions against the Indians and the way they fought back in the form of an aristocratic vampire against homegrown Indian ones. Its two different mythologies clashing and it’s never anything short of brilliant. These Savage Shores is one of the greatest vampire stories you can read, using the concept in a way you never would guess. V and Kumar are amazing, and they give readers something very special with These Savage Shores.
2. Maus
Comics came of age in the mid ’80s and a big reason for that was Maus by Art Spiegelman. Spiegelman’s father survived the Holocaust, and he decided to tell his father’s story, using mice as the Jews and cats as the Nazis. Maus is a classic of the medium; Spiegelman is able to use the cartoony visuals to give readers a story that will tear their heart out numerous times. He’s able to captures the horror of the Holocaust, and the strength of the Jewish people that came through it. It’s one of the most amazing works in comics.
1. From Hell
Alan Moore has created some timeless works, but one of his best indie works is easily From Hell. Moore, along with artist Eddie Campbell decided to throw his hat into the Jack the Ripper arena, telling a story of the Whitechapel murders that posited that royal surgeon Sir William Gull was the murderer, on the order of Queen Victoria, with the police, Freemasons, and the people of Whitechapel all playing their roles. From Hell is fantastic from start to finish, a meticulously researched and completely engrossing story that never lets go of your eyes or your brain. The comic was originally printed in black and white, and there’s now a color edition, with Campbell supplying the colors. However, for my money, the original black and white is better, capturing 19th century London in all of its foul glory. From Hell is perfect.
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