#tencomicsmeme

Reblogged from my Facebook.

#‎tencomicsmeme‬ This is going to be sooooo difficult. Word of warning: Very Grant Morrison heavy. He is the writer, in any medium, who has most resonated with me through my life.
1. The Invisibles - Morrison et al. I read this once a year, to put myself back into the headspace where I know that anything is possible, that everything is possible. "...We're trying to pull off a track that'll result in everyone getting exactly the kind of world they want. Everyone including the enemy."
2. Supreme - Alan Moore et al. About 3 pages into Moore's re-imagining of a crappy Rob Liefeld Superman rip off, you realize that he's actually telling what's probably the greatest (okay, second greatest) Superman story ever. Probably one of only two successful post-modernizations of the Man of Steel, and a fantastic, if sadly truncated, read.
3. All Star Superman - Morrison and Quitely. Perhaps the greatest Superman story ever. A collection of modern parables wrapped around the greatest superhero of the 20th century. Beautiful art, masterful writing. One day they'll call this literature, and they'll be right.
4. Bloom County - Berke Breathed. The first time I realized that comics could be more than Archie chasing Betty and Veronica, or Richie Rich buying his way out of yet another scrape. Admittedly, I missed a lot of the political satire in my younger years, but this strip was funny, tearful, and remarkably intelligent. Truly a stage-setter for the course of my intellectual life.
5. Cerebus - Dave Sim and Gerhard. As despicable and revolting as I find Sim's misogyny, and as unlikeable as I find his small grey protagonist, this series endlessly fascinates me. By turns hilarious and horrific, satire and melodrama. Finishing this series leaves you changed. I don't know if I can say I enjoyed it, but I'm glad I read it. And probably will do so again.
6. Xxxenophile - Phil Foglio and friends. Erotic comics done right. No one is beaten, bloodied, or abused. Simply hilarious short stories about people getting off and enjoying each others bodies. Happy, friendly, sexy porn.
7. Howard the Duck - Steve Gerber et al. Forget what you think you know about HTD from the horrendous movie. This is where weird comics come from. Like David Lynch doing a superhero story that's actually a scathing allegory of the US in the Seventies. One of the most under-appreciated comics of any time, and Gerber one of the most under-appreciated writers.
8. Animal Man - Morrison and Chas Truog. Issue #5, "The Coyote Gospel" is probably my single favourite issue of a comic ever, and has been for well over a quarter of a century. This is the comic that told me what was going on in comics, for which I will be ever grateful to Mr. Morrison. That said, the whole 26 issues of this series are some of the best, darkest, strangest superhero comics out there. And speaking of strange...
9. Doom Patrol - Morrison and Richard Case. The most human story I've ever read using the metaphor of the superhuman. And ridiculously weird and wonderful. A transvestite street and the Sex Men. Crazy Jane and the hermaphroditic Rebis. Cliff Steele, the Candlemaker, the Scissormen, the Painting that Ate Paris, and the glorious, incomparable Mr. Nobody.
10. Flex Mentallo - Morrison and Quitely (again). If you ever wondered why I believe so strongly in superheroes, this is the one to read. The great post-modern, re-golden age rock and roll psychedelic super hero, Flex Mentallo, Hero of the Beach. A manifesto for the unleashing of the imaginary to cure our sick world.
There are so many more. So many. From Hell, The Spider Garden, Sandman, Planetary, Starman. But those 10 I go back to, time and again.