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ok here's the skinny, it is almost comic-con time for me again, the wonderous time of the year when I go and grab cheap back issues of things I may not have read but should have. Not long ago people started telling me that I should go and pick up the first volume of Runaways, which I intend to do, and so I was curious are there any other, less then main stream (Spidey, x-men, superman etc.) that I or your fellow CCl comrades should check out?

Personal I have really enjoyed Star wars legacy as well as Gigantic, Locke and key, and some issues of Bite Club.

Proof by Image!!

...go on... what's it about

oh wait is that the one with the sasquatch working with the FBI or something like that? I think I have an appearance from him in Monster pile-up

I'll just make a list of stuff off the top of my head I always recommend.

-Pride of Baghdad
-Scalped
-Darwyn Cooke's recent run on The Spirit
-New X-Men (under Chris Yost and Craig Kyle)
-All-Star Superman
-Mouse Guard
-Echo (Terry Moore)
-RASL

RASL is great I freaking love Jeff Smith

A.B.C. Warriors, Excellent!

From Wikipedia-

ABC Warriors is a long-running 2000 AD comic strip written by Pat Mills, which first appeared in prog 119 in 1979. Art for the opening episodes was by Kevin O'Neill, Mike McMahon, Brett Ewins, and Brendan McCarthy - who between them designed the original seven members of the team.

The A.B.C. Warriors themselves are a team of war robots designed to withstand 'Atomic' 'Bacterial' and 'Chemical' warfare. They were built to take part in the long-running Volgan War, which Pat Mills had described in several previous 2000 AD strips, including Invasion!, whose lead character was the human Bill Savage) and Ro-Busters. Each robot has a distinctive personality - often one programmed by its human creators - but each is more or less able to act with free will.

Overview

One of the main characters, Hammerstein, was already well known to 2000 A.D. readers through the story Ro-Busters (which had come to 2000 A.D. via the comic Starlord). The story of the creation of robotic warriors to be used in the Volgan War had been introduced in the Ro-Busters story 'Hammerstein's War Memoirs'. Hammerstein is the only ABC Warrior to appear in film, making a cameo appearance in the Judge Dredd movie.

The initial run of stories from progs 119-128 follows Hammerstein towards the end of the Volgan War as he recruits six robots to join him for a special mission - to tame Mars, which had become a futuristic wild west. In further adventures set much later in time, the warriors teamed up with Nemesis the Warlock in his fight against the Termight Empire and to prevent a destabilised Black Hole bypass at the Earth's core destroying the world.

Many of these early stories pursue the theme of humans using robots to do jobs that they don't wish to do themselves (following the same theme as Ro-Busters), and the cruel treatment of soldier robots by their human officers. The Warriors often find themselves at odds with humans who are exploiting the land and the beings that live on it - typical storylines see the Warriors identifying such evil and delivering poetic justice to the perpetrators. Later stories also explore ideas of 'khaos' , and the concept of programmed robots being able to discover their true identities.

Some of the most famous artists working in British comics have illustrated The ABC Warriors, including Kevin O'Neill, Mike McMahon, Brett Ewins, Brendan McCarthy, Carlos Ezquerra, Dave Gibbons, Simon Bisley, Kev Walker and Henry Flint, among others.

i dont know how far below the radar your looking but guardians of the galaxy is an awesome book

Yep!

Think the X-Files but with more creatures.

It's so awesome and the extras in each issue kick ass! Definitely give Proof a shot!!

And I second/third the Rasl call. My only beef with it is how infrequent it's published...

Hmm. I haven't heards of these. Do you have any sort of description of them?

Well, I think a lot of people avoid Top Cow books in general, because there is a stigma of them just being T&A books, but, that really has started to change.

Something you may have missed and might want to check out is Hunter/Killer. And, more recently something I thought was really good that got no recognition/respect is, Madame Mirage.

Mouse Guard is a great book. Basically think Mice in medieval times with towns and what not. The story focus on the Mouse Guard which is basically a police force that protects. As I write this I realize my description stinks so I refer you to wikipedia! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mouse_Guard


Here is the entry for Echo. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Echo_(comic_book)


RASL. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RASL


I'd recommend all 3. Mouse Guard and Echo both have trades available.

How could I forget Hunter/Killer! I'd definitely recommend that as well. It's a really really good book. I forgot to mention Freak Angels as well.

These get my 5 Skull ☠☠☠☠☠ Recommendations

Necessary Evil - Desperado Publishing

Where do super-villains get their training? Necessary Evil Academy, of course! In the tradition of Harry Potter and Sky High we see how the other half lives... and studies! Jacob and Miller are the sons of the Matriarch, the world's greatest super-villainess. The Matriarch is now dead at the hands of a super-hero and the boys want answers... and revenge! As the brothers go to class to learn the tricks of the bad-guy-trade, they begin to unravel the secrets surrounding their mother's death, finding that her legacy may have destined them to become more than just villains.


Neozoic - Red 5 Comics

In a gritty sci-fi fantasy world where dinosaurs did not become extinct, humanity lives under the constant threat of giant predators. Protege hunter Lilli Murko faces off against a deadly carnivore while her Donti Squad discovers a strange new reptilian threat to their city.

Locke & Key: Vol.1 Welcome To Lovecraft - IDW

Novelist Hill, author of Heart-Shaped Box, crafts a gripping account of the shattered Locke family's attempt to rebuild after the father/husband is murdered by a deranged high school student and the family subsequently moving in with the deceased father's brother at the family homestead in Maine. But as anyone who has read horror fiction in the past 70-odd years will tell you, it's a bad idea to try to leave behind the gruesome goings-on in your life by moving to an island named Lovecraft. What begins as a study in coping with grief soon veers into creepy territory as the youngest Locke discovers a doorway with decidedly spectral qualities, along with a well that houses someone or something that desperately wants out and will use any means available to gain freedom, including summoning the teenage murderer who set events in motion in the first place. To say more would give away many of the surprises the creative team provides, but this first of hopefully several volumes delivers on all counts, boasting a solid story bolstered by exceptional artwork.

Locke & Key: Vol.2 Head Games - IDW

Current. Issue #3 out today! Buy them all now!

What's it called? or is it the only one?

I will be the 3rd person on to give high praise to Top Cow.I am enjoying the new volume of Darkness.Hunter/Killer was excellent and I have been singing it's praises on these boards since I started posting on them.Madame Mirage was also excellent.Witchblade is phenomal.I would never read it in the past because of the stigma it had for being nothing but a T&A book.I started reading it with issue 110 and it has been one of the best reads every month.Anyone not reading this book is sorely missing out.

Dynamite Entertainment is another company that is putting out tremendous books.They just put out a new series last month called Dead Irons which is really cool.Imagine the spaghetti westerns done by the Italian zombie movie makers...yeah...
Lone Ranger is another tremendous book.It does suffer from the long delays between issues.Buying the tpbs of it is a safe bet for a great read though.
Project Superpowers was probably the best comic of the last couple years.It was amazing.You may think you don't like Golden Age heroes but this book will shred all your doubts,biases,and prejudices.I swore I would never read a book with Golden Age heroes in it.Those old heroes are boring,dry,and well just plain suck is what I always thought.I got proved wrong just with the preview issue of this title.
Project Superpowers has also spun off into 3 seperate solo titles for some of it's heros.Black Terror is well worth picking up.Death-Defying Devil and Masquerade are two titles that I have been trying to chase down because I am anxious to read them.

Mouse Guard has a first trade called Mouse Guard Fall 1152. Here is the website for a little background info. The book is currently in it's second series which is Winter 1152. http://www.mouseguard.net/


Echo has a trade it is called Moon Lake. It collects issue 1-5.



I'd also recommend the new G.I. Joe comic book that has been released. Anna Mercury is another good title as well.

Archie

Deadworld - the precursor to all the zombie comics out today. I don't know if they are available in TPBs, but I know there is a CD that collects the entire series and every volume.

I highly recommend picking up any comic from Radical Comics
FVZA is the best book in all of comics out right now hands down.It is about a secret government agency that fights vampires and zombies.Nothing new in that idea but it is done a thousand times better than youve ever read before.What is cool in this book vampires aren't glorified romantic ,beautiful people like the new trendy teeny bobber bubblegum movies/books make them out to be.They do not retain their looks.Their flesh decays,for lack of a better word,and they resemble mummies more than Lestat.

Calibre is also a great book.I was a 5 issue mini that was released last year.It takes the Arthurian legend and adds a new twist to it.It is set in the days of the westerns and Excalibur is a gun instead of a sword.Like the Arthur legends only the chosen one can use the gun and the gun will only fire when it is being used for justice.Very very awesome.

Haunt is more mainstream than the previous books I mentioned but it is still off many peoples radar.Don't let Mcfarlane's name being on this book scare you,there is more Kirkman(Robert Kirkman the writer of the book) than Mcfarlane in the character and stories.