Jeff’s TOP 20 COMICS

1. Hard Boiled

3-issue miniseries written by Frank Miller with art by Geof Darrow, originally published from September 1990 through March 1992 by Dark Horse. Rereleased in this 2017 collection with new colors by Dave Stewart.

2. The Shoalin Cowboy

Four collections of the Geof Darrow comic, published by Dark Horse.

The recent 21st-anniversary edition, Beginning of the End Result (2026). Includes rare artwork, his formative Bourbon Thret comics previously published only in French by Moebius’s Ædena between 1984 and 1986, and the original 7-issue series, Start Trek, first published by Burlyman between 2004 and 2007.

4-issue series, Shemp Buffet (2015).

4-issue series, Who’ll Stop the Reign (2017).

7-issue series, Cruel to be Kin (2023).

Eagerly awaiting the new 4-issue series, Staying A.I. Live (2026), as of this writing.

3. Judge Dredd

Long-standing comic book created by John Wagner and artist Carlos Ezquerra, published by 2000 AD since 1977. I became an avid Dreddhead in 2025 and have since read most of the major storylines from the past fifty years. I love Wagner’s foundational work and his ongoing contributions, especially to America, The Pit, Total War, and Tour of Duty. Writers like Alan Grant and Al Ewing stand out, along with artists Ezquerra, Colin MacNeil, and Brian Bolland. And I’m especially fond of the more recent collaborations between writer Rob Williams and artist Henry Flint, from whose work I’ve selected my top three favorite collections: Trifecta (2013), Titan (2016) and A Better World (2025).

 

4. The Metabarons

8-volume space opera, a multi-generational family saga that plays like a science-fiction One Hundred Years of Solitude, written by Alejandro Jodorowsky with art by Juan Giménez, first published by Les Humanoïdes Associés between 1992 and 2003, collected and republished in English between 2001 and 2004 by their American counterpart, Humanoids.

Vol 1: OTHON

Vol 3: AGHAR

Vol 5: STEELHEAD

Vol 7: AGHORA

Vol 2: HONORATA

Vol 4: Oda

Vol 6: DOÑA VICENTA

VOL 8: NO NAME, THE LAST METABARON

5. Valerian and Laureline

First 10 albums written by Pierre Christin with art by Jean-Claude Mézières, first published by Dargaud between 1970 and 1981 in French and republished more recently in English by Cinebook.

Album 1

Album 2

Album 3

Album 4

Album 5

Album 6

Album 7

Album 8

Album 9

Album 10

 

6. The Complete Maus

2-volume graphic novel by Art Spiegelman, serialized from 1980 until 1991, when it was published in full by Pantheon and became the first graphic novel to win the Pulitzer Prize.



7. The Complete Calvin & Hobbes

3-volume set containing all strips by Bill Watterson, serialized between November 1985 and December 1995, collected and republished in 2005 by Andrews McMeel Publishing.

8. Scud: The Disposable Assassin - The Whole Shebang

Single volume containing all 24 issues, with art by Rob Schrab and writing by Schrab, Dan Harmon, and Mondy Carter, the first 20 issues published by Fireman Press between 1994 and 1998, then picked up and concluded in the long-awaited and brilliant 4-issue run in 2008 by Image. God bless Image.

9. The Goon: Bunch of Old Crap

6-volume omnibus of the ongoing comic by Eric Powell, first published in March 1999 and eventually picked up by Dark Horse in 2003. Episodes #32 and #33 are highlights, along with the Buzzard spin-off issues #1-3, all from the first part of Volume 4: Death’s Greedy Comeuppance.

 

10. From Hell

Graphic novel by Alan Moore with art by Eddie Campbell, began serialization in 1987 with Taboo and continued with various publishers until Eddie Campbell Comics collected it in 1999.


11. Ronin

An early cyberpunk 6-issue miniseries written by Frank Miller with his own art, published by DC Comics between July 1983 and August 1984 and collected in a deluxe edition in 2014.

12. The Incal

6-volume psycho-mystical space opera written by Alejandro Jodorowsky with art by Moebius, originally published by Les Humanoïdes Associés between 1981 and 1988 and translated by their American counterpart, Humanoids.

13. Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind


7-volume manga by Hayao Miyazaki, first published by Tokuma Shoten between 1982 and 1984.



14. Jimmy Corrigan: The Smartest Kid on Earth

Graphic novel by Chris Ware, began publication in Newcity in 1992 and later incorporated by Acme Novelty Library from 1995 until 2000, when it was collected in full.

15. Akira

6-volume manga by Katsuhiro Otomo, first published by Kodansha between 1982 and 1993 and released in English by that company between October 2009 and April 2011.

16. Batman: The Killing Joke

The perfect one-shot comic written by Alan Moore with art by Brian Bolland, published by DC in 1988.

17. Matt Fraction’s Hawkeye

Omnibus edition of the 22-issue limited series written by Matt Fraction with art by David Aja, published between 2012 and 2105 by Marvel.

18. Uncle Scrooge and Donald Duck - The Don Rosa Library

10-volumes of the Don Rosa run of the comic, first published between 1987 and 2006 by Disney.

 

19. The Complete Far side

3-volume collection of the complete Gary Larson single-panel comic, first published between 1980 and 1994 and collected here by Andrews McMeel Publishing.

20. Xenozoic

The unfinished 14-issue series by Mark Schultz with some art by Steve Stiles, published between 1987 and 1996 by Kitchen Sink and collected here with an introductory Death Rattle issue #8 by Flesk.