Why Are You Doing This?


Jason - 2004
    The protagonist, a moody twenty-something wallowing in depression after a breakup with his long-time girlfriend, finds himself drawn into a paranoid's worst nightmare after his best friend is murdered and the blame is pinned on him. With the help of a single mother who spontaneously throws in her lot with him (not to mention her precocious daughter), he sets out to clear his name. Soon new relationships are forged, dark secrets from the past are revealed, and the real killer comes back into the picture... with a vengeance.

A Contract with God and Other Tenement Stories


Will Eisner - 1978
    The human drama, the psychological insight -- Eisner captures the soul of the city and its troubled inhabitants with pen and ink. The comics medium was altered forever with the publication of this seminal work.

Flex Mentallo: Man of Muscle Mystery


Grant Morrison - 2002
    and of the Doom Patrol. Now Flex Mentallo, the Man of Muscle Mystery, returns to investigate the sinister dealings of his former comrade, The Fact, and a mysterious rock star whose connection to Flex may hold the key to saving them both.This fast-paced tale twists super hero tropes, introducing one mind-boggling concept after another in a tour de force of innovative storytelling.This long-asked-for Vertigo title is collected at last, presenting an early collaboration between writer Grant Morrison and artist Frank Quitely, who would win much acclaim on ALL-STAR SUPERMAN and WE3.

Planetary/Batman: Night on Earth


Warren Ellis - 2003
    Wagner, Snow and the Drummer track an amoral killer to Gotham City, prepared for battle.What they aren't prepared for is the Dark Knight! Of course, Batman doesn't exist on the same Earth as Planetary, which means the killer has worked in some very strange ways! Now the killer's reality-distorting technology is pulling, twisting and shifting the heroes through untold versions of Gotham City – and Batman!This new hardcover also features Warren Ellis's script for this story.

King City


Brandon Graham - 2012
    His best friend, Pete, falls in love with an alien he's forced to sell into green slavery, while his ex, Anna, watches her Xombie War veteran boyfriend turn into the drug he's addicted to. King City, an underbelly of a town run by spy gangs and dark dark magic with mystery down every alleyway.

The Escapists


Brian K. VaughanDan Jackson - 2007
    Tells the tale of three aspiring comics creators with big dreams, small cash, and publishing rights to one forgotten Golden Age hero - The Escapist.

Top 10, Vol. 1


Alan Moore - 2000
    In a city where everyone is blessed with powers, it takes a unique and powerful police force to protect and serve. In this Eisner Award-winning book, we are introduced to the extremely diverse officers of Precinct Ten; an armored and talking dog, a genetically engineered "perfect woman," a high tech cowboy, an indestructible man, and a rookie with a toy box full of "helpers." Individually they are unique personalities, together they are Neopolis' finest.

Enigma


Peter Milligan - 1993
    Michael Smith lives a meaningless life of routine and boredom. But when Enigma, his favorite childhood comic book hero, inexplicably comes to life, Smith finds himself on an obsessive crusade to uncover the secret behind his improbable existence. Teaming with Enigma's comic creator, Smith encounters an insanity-inducing psychopath, a brain-eating serial killer, and a suicide-inciting clown posse as his quest uncovers hidden truths about both his idol and himself.

Beverly


Nick Drnaso - 2016
    Connected by a series of gossipy teens, the modern lost souls of Beverly struggle with sexual anxieties that are just barely repressed and social insecurities that undermine every word they speak.A group of teenagers pick up trash on the side of the highway--flirting, preening, and ignoring a potentially violent loner in their midst. A college student brings her sort-of boyfriend to a disastrous house party with her high-school acquaintances. A young woman experiences a traumatic incident at the pizza shop where she works and the fallout reveals the racial tensions simmering below the surface. Again and again, the civilized façade of Drnaso's pitch-perfect surburban sprawl and pasty Midwestern protagonists cracks in the face of violence and quiet brutality.Drnaso's bleak social satire in Beverly reveals a brilliant command of the social milieu of twenty-first-century existence, echoing the black comic work of Todd Solondz, Sam Lipsyte, and Daniel Clowes. Precisely and hauntingly recounted, each chapter of Beverly reveals something new--and yet familiar--about the world in which we live.

The Batman Adventures: Mad Love and Other Stories


Paul Dini - 2009
    Also included are tales by Dini, Timm and others that feature the Scarecrow, Ra's Al Ghul, Mr. Freeze, Batgirl and more.

Daredevil, Vol. 1: Guardian Devil


Kevin Smith - 1998
    The urban adventurers share many similarities- but just how different are they? In this titanic team-up, the Man Without Fear and the friendly neighborhood wall-crawler unite-but often rub each other the wrong way- to put a stop to an evil plan, by an unlikely group of 4 of Marvel's darker villains, hired by the Kingpin of Crim

Strangers in Paradise: Pocket Book 1


Terry Moore - 2004
    She's smart, independent and very much in love with her best friend, Francine. Then Katchoo meets David, a gentle but persistent young man who is determined to win Katchoo's heart. The resulting love triangle is a touching comedy of romantic errors until Katchoo's former employer comes looking for her and $850,000 in missing mob money. As her idyllic life begins to fall apart, Katchoo discovers no one can be trusted and that the past she thought she left behind now threatens to destroy her and everything she loves, including Francine.

Superman: Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow?


Alan MoorePaul Kupperberg - 1986
    Moore teams with Curt Swan, the definitive Superman artist from the 1950's through the 1970's, to tell the final adventure of the Man of Steel featuring his last stand against Lex Luthor, Brainiac and his other foes in "WHATEVER HAPPENED TO THE MAN OF TOMORROW?". This volume also includes Moore's classic early collaboration with WATCHMEN illustrator Dave Gibbons, "FOR THE MAN WHO HAS EVERYTHING", in which Batman, Robin and Wonder Woman find Superman held captive by the villain Mongul in the Fortress of Solitude and dreaming of an idyllic life on Krypton courtesy of a wish-fulfilling parasitic plant known as the Black Mercy. Both tales are considered two of the top five all-time best Superman stories among fans. The rare first team-up adventure between the Man of Tomorrow and Swamp Thing, the character that first brought Moore to notoriety in the United States, is included as an additional bonus.This volume collects the two-part “Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow?” from SUPERMAN #423 and ACTION COMICS #583, as well as “The Jungle Line” from DC COMICS PRESENTS #85 and “For the Man Who Has Everything...” from SUPERMAN ANNUAL #11.

Blacksad


Juan Díaz Canales - 2000
    Imagine New York as a city of criminal rats, jazz-playing gorillas and rhino thugs. Enter a mystery where the suspects have tails. Find out why comics' biggest names are wild about one of the freshest graphic novels in years—a 2005 Eisner and Harvey Award nominee. Enter the world of Blacksad. Natalia Wilford is a famous actress. To the world, she had everything anybody could want—beauty, fame, glamour, and lovers who would do anything for her. When she is found murdered in her home, it touches the man who had not seen her since their bitter breakup many years ago. private eye John Blacksad. He vows to find Natalia's murderer.

Batman: Year 100


Paul Pope - 2006
    The Batman, a forgotten icon from the past, is wanted for the murder. Amid the chaos Gotham City Police Detective Gordon, grandson of the former commissioner, discovers that the man they are chasing shouldn't exist at all.